Independenciafilm

Here are the nominees for the 33rd Gawad Urian night 2010

2010-03-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

Here are the nominees for the 33rd Gawad Urian night 2010
3 Nominations for Independencia

Best Music

Teresa Barrazo, Kinatay
Dan Gil, Last Supper No. 3
Lutgardo Labad, Independencia
Gauss Obenza, Hospital Boat
Francisbrew Reyes, Dinig Sana Kita
Francis de Veyra, The Arrival

Best Production Design

Bryan Bajado, Hospital Boat
Deans V. Habal, Bakal Boys
Brillante Mendoza, Kinatay
Brillante Mendoza, Lola
Danny Red, Himpapawid
Digo Ricio, Independencia
Mic Tatad and Giselle Andres, Last Supper No. 3

Best Cinematography

Dax Canedo, Hospital Boat
Ruben H. Dela Cruz, Bakal Boys
Emman Pascual, Engkwentro
Odyssey Flores, Kinatay
Odyssey Flores, Lola
Sol Garcia, Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe
Joni Guttierez, Anacbanua
Jeanne Lapoirie, Independencia
Raymond Red, Himpapawid

Asian American Film Festival, San Francisco

2010-03-11T06:40:00.001-08:00

Description
Independencia: Asian American Film Festival Film - Feature | March 12 | 7-8:20 p.m. | Pacific Film Archive Theater
Sponsor: Pacific Film Archive
Rising young director Raya Martin, a favorite of the Cannes Film Festival, continues his daring historical trilogy on the history of the Philippinesthe acclaimed Indio Nacional was the first installmentwith the mesmerizing black-and-white Independencia, an investigation of American colonialism and simultaneously a re-creation of a lost era in Philippine cinema. Set during the American occupation of the early twentieth century, Independencia is shot like a classic Hollywood drama, complete with glistening black-and-white deep-focus photography, softly diffused close-ups, and elaborately fake sets. Merging an elemental plot (a man, a woman, and a child hide from American patrols in the jungle rains) with mesmerizing images (the films deep 35mm beauty recalls such studio-era exotica as I Walked with a Zombie or Shanghai Express, with French cinematographer Jeanne Lapoirie casting a dazzling spell of dark shadows and diffused light), Independencia provides a meditative discourse on culture, history, colonialism, and the legacy (and disappearance) of cinema itself.

Jason Sanders

http://eventful.com/events/independencia-asian-american-film-festival-/E0-001-028607542-7

NYFF reviews

2010-03-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

Nostalgia vies with protest in a young experimental filmmaker's movie about colonialism

In this film 24-year-old Raya Martin, the first Filipino director to be chosen for a Cannes Cinefondation film-making workshop, shows the ambition of the very young. He takes on the entire history of colonization in the Philippines as his subject. And he comes from a country that has been colonized and dominated by Spain, then the US, then Japan, then the US again. But Independencia, whose 35 mm camera work is by the French cinematographer Jeanne Lepoirie, and which if you can really separate the two is more remarkable for its lovely evocative black and white look than for its narrative, approaches its subject indirectly. Skillfully appropriating the style of long-ago local studio films (silents, and early talkies) and reveling in their artificiality, soft focus and fixed camera positions, it depicts a young man (Sid Lucero) and his aging mother (Tetchie Agbayani), who slip off into the forest to live in hiding because they feel an invasion is coming -- the invasion of the Americans. (This is not merely symbolic, but happened during the various invasions, that Filipinos escaped and lived dangerous hidden lives in the hinterlands.)

The look evoked is of the films made during the American occupation, while the events take place during the same time. The forest/jungle that dominates the scenes is lush and gorgeous and luminous. The son and mother find an abandoned shack and live there. The son later finds a wounded and raped girl (Alessandra de Rossi) and takes her back to the shack. Later his mother dies. The story jumps forward, after the brief interruption of a segment from a mock-propaganda film justifying American soldiers shooting a boy who steals in a village market, meant to take the place of an old style cinema intermission break, to some years later when the young woman and the son are now living together as husband and wife and have a young son -- or rather, are raising the boy with whom she was pregnant when she arrived (Mika Aguilos). Since he is light-skinned, perhaps he was fathered by an American, and that indeed is indicated by a fugitive line of dialogue earlier.

There are several important sequences of oral storytelling, and a pungent speech in the film's Tagalog language in which the little boy describes exploring and seeing a golden man by a river whose hair and body are so bright he can't look at them. (A savior, or a white oppressor? The boy's father?)

The film, which is rich in insect sounds throughout (as well as intrusive music) ends with a spectacularly loud and lightening-filled typhoon when the little family is broken up. The little boy is left alone and driven over a cliff by the invaders.

At the risk of seeming superficial, one has to say that the visuals are what sing in the film; the narrative is allusive and symbolic and you can make what you want of it, but the images provide immediate rewards. As Deborah Young writes in her Hollywood Reporter review, "Though everything is obviously shot on a studio set with potted plants and a painted backdrop, the effect is to cast the characters into a magical world that can be both quaint and wondrous." Moreover the whole film shows the beauty of shooting with a lens that has a shallow depth of field, and the evocation of silent-era film-making at times is remarkable. Independencia is an experimental work (Raya Martin has spoken of being inspired by Stan Brakhage's painted images in his final shots of the boy, with the colorless landscape suddenly painted red), but visually it is stimulating to the imagination, and the apparent simplicity belies the richness of the effects. Like many a talented young artist, Martin seems self-absorbed, pretentious and naive, proclaiming at Cannes that he hoped people would get "to die for their country and for cinema." Time will tell if his talents will bear solid fruit or get lost in showy gestures. Meanwhile, he has ideas more mainstream cinematographers may want to steal.

Independencia is the second in a trilogy, following A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (2005), which dealt with the struggle for independence from Spain in the late 19th century and was made in the style of silent films.

Shown at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard series (along with a short, Manila, shown out of competition). Seen as part of the main slate of the New York Film Festival, October 2009.

_________________
©Chris Knipp 2010

http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1372

NYFF Fan review

2010-03-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

Independencia (Raya Martin, Philippines) - If last year’s inclusion of Brillante Mendoza’s Serbis at NYFF introduced New York to an uprising in Filipino cinema, Independencia displays the wildly different kinds of work being done right now. Independencia was one of two films Martin, age 25, had at this years Cannes Film Festival where the Best Director prize was won by fellow countrymen Mendoza for his controversial film Kinatay. With Independencia, Martin shows some real promise, even while the film never completely works. Set in the Filipino jungle in 1943, a family awaits the arrival of American troops into their country. A bit obviously, the family waits for most of the film until a massive storm finally comes and sends the characters in different directions. Martin, above all else, does what he can to achieve the look of a 1940s Hollywood film, complete with beautifully hand drawn sets that give Independencia a remarkable look while creating an undercurrent of the American invasion of Filipino culture. Still, this concept only goes so far, as the flowing cinematography overwhelms this small amount of dramatic tension given to the actual plot in the first two-thirds of the film. The storm sequence is rather tremendous and won me over for Independencia as a whole. Wonderfully executed, Independencia ends with the mood and attitude it needed to sustain throughout. Though its not a complete success, its shows some real complex thinking from Martin about his films and should help in turning Martin’s idea around on him by finally bringing a larger Filipino presence to the US film scene. B-

http://www.out1filmjournal.com/2009/10/nyff-2009-trashing-conceptsconceptual.html

Independencia wins 2 Prizes-- Critic's Prize and Jury Prize at Valdivia Film Festival!

2009-10-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

16th Valdivia International Film Festival 2009 from 15 - 20 October 2009
Se cierra el telón
There are no translations available.

Con la presencia de autoridades e invitados especiales, la organización del Festival Internacional de Cine de Valdivia cerró su décimo sexta versión.

Durante la noche del 20 de octubre, con una ceremonia en el Aula Magna de la Universidad Austral de Chile, se dio por terminada la fiesta del cine en la región de Los Ríos. Esto tras una intensa semana, llena de actividades culturales, conferencias y lo mejor del cine chileno e internacional.

El evento fue conducido por los actores de la recién estrenada película de Cristian Jiménez, ‘Ilusiones Ópticas’: Iván Álvarez de Araya y Paulina Eguiluz. Con su carisma, los animadores conquistaron a los más de 400 asistentes que fueron a despedir la jornada.

Luego de escuchar la canción ‘Valdivia en niebla’ de Patricio Mans, interpretada por Juan Pablo Miranda y Álvaro Morgan, se proyectó un pequeño resumen de lo que fueron los pasados seis días.

Por supuesto, se dieron a conocer los ganadores de las diferentes categorías en competencia.

Competencia Oficial Largometraje

Mejor Película: La Pivellina, de Rainier Frimmel y Tizza Covi.

Mejor Director: Esmir Filho por Os Famosos e os Duendes da Morte.

Premio Especial del Jurado: Independencia de Raya Martin.

Premio de la Crítica: Independencia de Raya Martin.

Competencia Oficial Cortometraje

Mejor Cortometraje: Goleshovo de Ilian Metev.

Menciones especiales del jurado:

Lucía de Niles Atallah, Joaquín Cociña y Cristóbal León.

Despair de Galina Myznikova y Sergey Provorov.

Competencia Oficial Gente Joven

Mejor Cortometraje Categoría Gente Joven: El Hijo, de Carlos Leiva.

Sección Work in Progress 2009

Ganador: Metro Cuadrado de Nayra Ilic.

Foro de Inversiones y Sesiones de Coproducción

De Jueves a Domingo de Dominga Sotomayor (Chile).

Marimbas del Infierno de Julio Hernández Cordón (Guatemala).

2º Concurso de cortometrajes HD Videocorp-VGL-VTR

Ganador: La ley del Hielo, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago.

Mejor Película Chilena - (Voto del Público)

Premio TVN: La Nana de Sebastián Silva.

Premio Movie City: El Poder de la Palabra de Francisco Hervé.

Como ocurrió en varias oportunidades dentro de la semana, la organización del FICV le dio la oportunidad a la Federación Plataforma Audiovisual, para leer el Manifiesto de los Audiovisualistas de Chile por la Ley de TV Digital.

Tras las premiaciones, el público fue convidado a disfrutar la película belga ‘Lost Persons Area’, de Caroline Strubbe. Mientras, los invitados partieron a un cóctel en la prestigiosa Cervecería Kuntsmann.

http://www.ficv.cl/f16/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=en

Into the Woods by Michael Joshua Rowin

2009-10-06T01:25:00.000-07:00

Into the Woods
by Michael Joshua Rowin

Independencia
Dir. Raya Martin, Philippines, no distributor

Raya Martin does not lack for ambition. A rising young star of Filipino cinema with seven films chronicling the history of his country already under his belt, Martin initially received laudatory notices for 2005’s A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (or the Prolonged Sorrow of the Filipinos), has completed the first two parts of a planned “Box Office Trilogy” (Now Showing and Next Attraction), and now with this year’s Independencia can claim to be the first filmmaker to represent the Philippines in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard competition. He’s all of 25 years old. Independencia is obviously the work of a promising filmmaker, yet even while it displays confidently sumptuous imagery in the service of a cleverly ironic critical indictment of cultural colonialism, it also betrays an incoherence and incompleteness that a more seasoned talent would most likely not commit to celluloid.

The film opens on a small marketplace in the Philippines before the turn of the 20th century. It’s shot in a very specific quality of luminescent black-and-white that reminds of certain 1920s and 30s Hollywood cinema—gauzy, diffuse, a little dreamy. Cannon shots startle the marketplace crowd, and soon a mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and son (Sid Lucero) are shown packing their belongings to escape the oncoming chaos of the revolution against Spanish rule. The only thing they need to bring on their journey, according to the mother, is their faith.

Into the woods they flee. But the forest is conspicuously phony: beautifully painted backdrops blend with lifelike plants and trees in the foreground, amplifying the setting’s artificiality. A cabin left behind by the Spanish provides their new home, one they must restore to properly live in. A third person joins their party: The son discovers in the forest a young woman (Alessandra de Rossi) who is suggested as having been raped by American soldiers (“Wait ’til they hear what you did to that girl,” an offscreen voice says in English), and brings her back home. The mother develops a disturbing jealousy toward this stranger, dreaming—in a superimposed sequence that plays out above her sleeping head—of her only child taking the young woman from behind on a luxurious bed. Before she dies during a powerful squall, mom will also dream of repeatedly slapping the young woman. The young woman has meant no ill-will, but she has quickly succeeded the mother, and is soon seen pregnant and in the throes of birthing pains.

In a moment recalling the fake malfunction that bifurcated Tropical Malady, Independencia is abruptly interrupted when the film is made to look as if it’s sliding away from the projector lens (A Short Film is also, from what I’ve read, similarly divided). A colonialist propaganda newsreel is briefly shown in its place, explaining in an English voiceover the necessary actions of an American soldier who shot a local boy on the pretense of shoplifting. When we return to the main narrative it is many years later, and the son is now a longhaired father with a son (Mike Aguilos) of his own. The forest has become thoroughly part of the grown man: he explains to his boy that the reason they dwell apart from civilization is that townspeople are warlike, a point he illustrates by telling a story about two villages that once fought over hunting grounds until they all killed each other. But even his family’s isolation cannot stave off war, and it encroaches when Americans enter the forest during their siege of a nearby community.

Independencia works best as a metacinematic allegory of cultural resistance and perseverance in the face of imperial domination. Using classical Hollywood syntax, Martin links the United States’ inherited occupation of the Philippines with the emergence of that superpower’s greatest ideological weapon: the movies. The fake newsreel, featuring a villainous soldier sporting a preposterously false moustache, makes the connection explicit, but Martin also exaggerates soundstage illusion to mock Hollywood’s exotic fantasies, even as he simultaneously re-enlists that illusion in the service of a shimmering, lush myth closer to indigenous and oral storytelling traditions.

Unfortunately Independencia ends up with a ton of thematic loose ends. What is the significance of the mother’s Freudian sexual envy to the rest of the story? What of the son’s desire to reach the sea and become a fisherman? What happened to the precious amulet the son speaks of as a lost heirloom once owned by his revered father? The son wishes to recover it to ward off the Occidental invaders—does the climactic, strobe lightning storm mean it’s fallen into the hands of an unworthy possessor? Is the dark specter with a hand-drawn outline around it the savior referred to as the forest’s protector (and supposedly glimpsed by the child at one point)? If so, is its power ferocious or negligible? These questions seem to be left hanging due not to ambiguous intent but directorial sloppiness—at only 77 minutes, Independencia contains either a strangely inordinate amount of filler or a poorly conceived narrative (as co-written by Martin and Ramon Sarmiento), with a rushed ending that bafflingly conflates colonial repression with natural disaster.

Despite all these problems, Martin’s proficiency with lighting, mise-en-scène, and sound design is never in doubt, not exactly faint praise for someone who’s just reached the quarter-century mark. Even if the available evidence shows he can build properly on some ideas more than others, Martin clearly possesses a visual intelligence that portends terrific exploration and originality, two qualities that almost guarantee refinement.

At the New York Film Festival: Independencia

2009-10-06T01:23:00.001-07:00

At the New York Film Festival: Independencia
Posted by Andrew Schenker on Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:25 PM
Raya Martin's Independencia played on Sunday afternoon at the New York Film Festival. The film is currently without distribution.
Although it occasionally gets carried away by its own reflexive spirit, Independencia is far more than the cute formal exercise its premise suggests. As he spins his myth-like tale of three generations of Filipino villagers hiding out in the forest from the threat of occupying Yankees, director Raya Martin fits his colonialist story with a colonized aesthetic to match. Understanding the ways in which cultural imperialism is often grounded in the cinematic image—a point he perhaps stresses too hard through a mid-film mock-propaganda newsreel—he steeps the picture in the look of early Hollywood silents, an appropriate framework through which to process the experience of the colonized Filipinos who were likely exposed to these very movies. But for all the studied artificiality of the film’s look—the use of the 4:3 frame, matted backgrounds, a subtle flicker effect—Martin’s images can’t be reduced to mere model-mimicry. Simply put, they’re too lovely: oozy, silvery glimpses of trees, bodies, faces that look like something, not so much ripped from the studio era, but out of some hazy dreamscape instead.

Unfolding sometime in the early part of the 20th century, the film begins with a mother and son fleeing the danger of the city for the relative seclusion of a tropical forest. They're joined by a battered woman seeking asylum, and the three live in relative peace in a makeshift shack until the mother succumbs to illness. Then, after a few scratches on the screen and a few frames of white leader mimic a reel change, we jump a couple years ahead, with the son and woman living in the same forest, now married and raising a child of their own. Throughout it all is the constant threat of the Americans, their presence never overstated, but always felt. When they finally do arrive, they seem like a foreign conception of U.S. soldiers: their voices sound like Filipinos trying to speak American English and their actions are uniformly brutish. It’s as if they were called into being by the cinematic imagination of the oppressed. And, in a way, they are, since it’s Martin, reflecting on his country’s legacy, who has created them.

Ultimately, Independencia doesn’t really take us deep into the workings of the colonial situation—after registering its initial insight about cultural hegemony and the film image, it’s content to simply present the Americans as the enemy. Instead it proceeds by a certain strain of mythologizing, seemingly drawn from oral tradition—we see the father pass it on to his son—which imagines the struggle in terms of allegorical figures like “the man in the river” and “the evil army” while the villains are kept largely off-screen. When an actual threat finally emerges, it’s preceded by an earth-rending thunderstorm which, in its monumentality, seems like the real enemy—and whose presentation, with its images of figures curled up against the rain and its claps of thunder, wind and swirling strings on the soundtrack, represents the film’s aesthetic peak—rather than the soldiers whose brief presence immediately follows the storm. In moments likes this, Martin succeeds in conjuring up a smoky dreamworld—which we recognize at last as the world of the movies—and then, summoning the weight of history, tears a rude hole through its gauzy fabric.

We were all very honored and happy that ‘Independencia’ won not just one but two prizes— Grand Prize in the Southeast Asian Competition

2009-10-04T04:26:00.000-07:00

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20091004-228264/Lea-Salonga-sings-for-Ondoy-victims

Only in Hollywood
Lea Salonga sings for ‘Ondoy’ victims
By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:34:00 10/04/2009

Filed Under: Celebrities, Ondoy, Flood
Most Read
LOS ANGELES—“Ondoy” may have wrought terrible devastation to our country but in its wake, something beautiful and profound arose: the unprecedented support Filipinos all over the world have shown to help the flood victims and relief efforts in every way possible.

Also thanks to the Internet and texting technology, Pinoys galvanized together in an instant fashion. The outpouring of “Bayanihan” spirit, 21st century style, is very moving.

Take the case of Lea Salonga’s special fund-raising performance for the tropical storm victims on Monday, Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m. at The Philippine Center’s Kalayaan Hall located at 556 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Lea, her friend Victor Lirio, the good folks of the Ayala Foundation USA and the Philippine Consulate General were able to organize the event in less than 24 hours!

We’ll let Victor, Diverse City Theater Company artistic director, tell the story. Here is his e-mail account:

Heartbreaking news

“The event was planned just last night (Wednesday evening, Sept. 30). Earlier yesterday, I was in communication via e-mail with Deputy Consul General Millie Thomeczek, expressing my desire to do something for the victims. I had been consumed by all the news about the calamity, and the photographs online were simply heartbreaking.

“I knew Lea was scheduled to be in town for concert engagements in upstate New York. But I also knew that she had very limited time due to work. At 5:15 p.m. yesterday, I was in a meeting with Bob Perlstein, Lea’s legal counsel and who is helping me with a deal memo for another project. Bob told me he spoke to Lea who expressed the same desire to do something for the storm victims. So while I was in Bob’s office, I called Lea and left a message on her voicemail. I found out later that she was already on an LA-bound flight.

“At around 8:30 p.m. last night, Lea called me. She had just landed in LA. We talked about the victims of the storm and the insufficient help and relief available to them. She said, ‘We definitely have to do something, no matter how small.’ She was originally scheduled to leave earlier, but she changed her schedule so she can do a benefit event. So we agreed on a date and logistical things.

“At 10:47 p.m. last night when I got home, I e-mailed Consul General Cecil Rebong, Millie, Ayala Foundation (AF) USA president Vicky Garchitorena, secretary (New York Team) Marilyn Abalos and officer Ronna Sieh. By 11:33 p.m., I had received an e-mail from Vicky confirming her support. By 11:48 p.m., I was communicating with Ronna regarding logistical arrangements. A few minutes after midnight, I had almost simultaneous responses expressing support from Millie, Marilyn Abalos and Consul General Cecil Rebong. All Millie needed to do was to confirm the Kalayaan Hall’s availability, which she did at 10:30 a.m. the following day. By 2:40 p.m., we had sent out the announcement.”

In a joint statement, Victor and Lea revealed details of the special performance: “There are limited seats. To RSVP, e-mail rsvp@diversecitytheater.org. Donation: $50 general admission; VIP Donation: $150+ which includes a pre-show cocktail reception. All proceeds to benefit the typhoon relief fund.

“If you are unable to attend but would like to make a donation, visit http://www.af-usa.org. Go to ‘Donate Now’ and select ‘AF-USA Typhoon Relief Fund.’ For check donations, make checks payable to Ayala Foundation USA and mail them to 255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 428, Redwood City, CA 94065. Please put ‘flood victims’ on the memo portion of your check. For questions, please e-mail ronna.sieh@gmail.com.”

Bangkok win

Arleen Cuevas, back home from Thailand where “Independencia,” which she produced and Raya Martin directed, won two prizes, e-mailed us her thoughts: “We were all very honored and happy that ‘Independencia’ won not just one but two prizes— Grand Prize in the Southeast Asian Competition and the Netpac Jury award, and also happy that Sherad Anthony Sanchez’s ‘Imburnal’ won Special Mention as well. We were glad that there was a strong Filipino presence in the festival this year, with three Filipino films in competition. I also co-produced the other Filipino entry, ‘Aurora,’ directed by Adolfo Alix Jr. which was also in competition. And Brillante Mendoza was one of the jurors in the Main Competition...

“Raya is in New York for the New York Film Festival,” she disclosed. “Independencia” is an official entry in that ongoing festival. “I talked to Raya who wished he was in Bangkok with us.

“There were no speeches during the awarding ceremony,” Arleen said. “It was a straightforward event with Princess Ubolratana of Thailand giving out the awards...”

Before flying to Bangkok, she attended the Vladivostok International Film Festival where “Independencia” was in competition.

Arleen is glad to be back home. “Yes, we were all affected by Ondoy,” she disclosed. “I live in Manila (very near España, UST area) and my area gets flooded all the time. It was good our immediate families and friends were safe.”

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.

Independencia’ wins two major awards in Bangkok

2009-10-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Only in Hollywood
‘Independencia’ wins two major awards in Bangkok
By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:06:00 10/03/2009

Filed Under: Cinema, Awards and Prizes
LOS ANGELES — News of Raya Martin’s “Independencia” winning the Grand Prize in the Southeast Asia Competition and the Netpac (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) at the just concluded seventh Bangkok International Film Festival provides a much-needed boost after the terrible devastation wrought by Ondoy.

Arleen Cuevas, who produced “Independencia,” accepted the awards during the closing ceremonies held last Wednesday at the Chatrium Suites Bangkok. Raya is attending the New York Film Festival, where his American Occupation-set drama will also be entered.

Interestingly, this first Filipino film to compete in the Un Certain Regard section in the Cannes Film Festival shows a violent storm that has a profound impact on a family played by Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi and Mika Aguilos.

Arleen flew to Bangkok from Vladivostok, where “Independencia” competed in the seventh Pacific-Meridian International Film Festival. She posted in her Facebook page that the very first question she was asked during the Q&A with the audience after the film’s screening was, “Why is there is so much rain in the Philippines (as shown in the movie)?” This was before Ondoy struck, so Arleen’s post drew amused comments, including one from this columnist.

Another Philippine entry, Sherad Anthony Sanchez’s “Imburnal,” along with Malaysia’s “Call If You Need Me,” won the Special Mention Prize in the Southeast Asia Competition of the Thai film festival, which hopes to champion films from the region. The Special Jury Prize went to Thailand’s “Nymph.”

Rock icon

Berlin-based journalist and film critic, Vincenzo Bugno, Singaporean filmmaker, Royston Tan, and Thai indie rock icon and poet, Tul Waitoonkiat, made up the jury for the Southeast Asia Competition.

As we write this, Arleen is flying back to the Philippines. She promised to e-mail us about “Independencia’s” triumph once she’s home.

Brillante “Dante” Mendoza served as a juror in the main competition along with Chinese filmmaker, Li Yang, and Thai stage and movie director, Ekachai Uekrongtham. Dante and his two colleagues gave the top prize to an entry from Belgium, Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth’s “Altiplano,” which was described by Screen Daily as “a hyper-stylized environmental drama set in a Peruvian village.”

The other winners in the main competition were China’s “The Search,” which clinched the Special Jury Prize and Canada’s “I Killed My Mother,” which bagged the Special Mention honors.

Incidentally, we’ve been able to watch some of the Cannes entries by filmmakers whom Dante edged out for the Best Director award. These include Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” and Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon,” which won the Palme d’Or. These are excellently crafted films, so we can’t wait to see “Kinatay,” the film that Dante won for and made him the first Filipino to win the Cannes’ coveted Best Director plum.

The filmmaker, who is reported to have a large following in Thailand, just got back to the Philippines. “Medyo pagod pa ako,” he wrote via e-mail. “Nag-alala ako while I was in Bangkok, kasi a lot of people were texting me, asking if we were OK.” We asked Dante to share his thoughts on being in the jury, and he obliged:

“It’s not easy judging other filmmakers’ work, because you can’t help judging them from your own point of view. Kasi mahirap maging director, lalo na kung ang pelikula ay galing sa Third World countries like ours. I’m saying this because the festival had good choices. But, I’m happy because most of my choices won, like ’The Search’ and ’I Killed My Mother.’

Long discussion

“We had a long discussion over the Grand Prize winner, ‘Altiplano,’ because of the use of religion in the film. Coming from a Catholic country, I pointed out some of its flaws, which my fellow jurors, Li Yang and Ekachai Uekrongtham, who are both Buddhists, didn’t quite understand—like the use of images, etc. But in the end, we agreed to give the prize to ‘Altiplano,’ which was also screened at the Critics Week in Cannes.

“I’m very happy but not surprised that Raya bagged the Grand Prize in the Southeast Asia Competition. In fact, biniro ko sina Adolf (Alix Jr.) na dapat makuha natin ang Grand Prize, Special Jury at Special Mention, pati Netpac. Nagkatotoo nga. There’s no doubt the Filipino independent cinema now has a very strong presence, not only in Asia, but in the whole world as well.

“Kapapanalo lang ni Pepe (Diokno) sa Venice, at eto na naman ang kay Raya. Pinoy indies are in focus at the Pusan and Thessaloniki International Film Festivals. I’m very sure that more Filipino independent productions will win in festivals. ’Serbis’ also won the Grand Prize in the Southeast Asia Competition last year. I was given a retrospective in Brazil early this month. Another retrospective will be given to my films in Lisbon, Portugal early next year. This year is indeed the golden year of Filipino independent films.”

We say, “Mabuhay!,” to Dante’s sentiments. We sure could use some good news at this time.

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com, and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.

TimeOut New York review

2009-10-03T07:26:00.001-07:00

Timeout New York
New York Film Festival 2009

Like Josef von Sternberg’s island adventure Anatahan (1953), Raya Martin’s weather-beaten melodrama is one hallucinatory emotional hothouse. During the 1898 American invasion of the Philippines, a mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and son (Sid Lucero) retreat to the woods. They eke out a meager existence until another woman (Alessandra de Rossi) arrives and pushes the family dynamic in a more feral direction. The 77-minute feature is divided into two parts, separated by a mock newsreel (at once satirical and horrific) that portrays a murder committed by an American soldier as if it were a Keystone Cops short. The comic and the tragic constantly intertwine: Martin uses the vernacular of early silent and sound films to explore how this particular bit of history is remembered and resonates through to the present. He saves his biggest flourish for the finale, when color intrudes on the elegant black-and-white aesthetic with an enlightening, blood-red vengeance. Sunday, Oct 4 at 3pm—Keith Uhlich
Read more: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/film/78907/independencia#ixzz0Sso8D3gj

Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal Capsule review of Independencia

2009-10-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal
Capsule reviews

Independencia
Raya Martin stylistically mimics the look and feel of a stagey old black and white movie, with flickering movement and painted backgrounds, yet it's a lush and gorgeous thing to look at and listen to. Compared to other Filipino films I've seen, it's so clean. The story is about a mother and son (Tetchie Agbayani and Sid Lucero) who retreat to the woods in advance of the American invasion of the Philippines in the late 19th century. The son finds an abandoned young woman, presumably raped by a hilariously mustachioed American soldier, and soon the mother passes away. Not long after that, the couple has a mixed-race boy they call their son, and so another generation of Filipinos begins. Will it be free? (5/5)

Independencia and Imburnal win awards in 7th Bangkok International Film Festival

2009-10-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Independencia and Imburnal win awards in 7th Bangkok International Film Festival

Jocelyn Dimaculangan

Friday, October 2, 2009
07:05 AM
Rating

Filipino filmmakers bring good news to their countrymen as thousands recover from the destruction brought about by typhoon Ondoy.

The black-and-white film Independencia bagged two prizes in the 7th edition of the Bangkok International Film Festival. Imburnal was given a Special Mention in the filmfest that took place in Thailand from September 24-30.

Independencia was the Grand Prize winner in the Southeast Asian Category and the recipient of the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury Prize Award. The period film set during the American colonization of the Philippines stars Sid Lucero, Tetchie Agbayani, and Alessandra de Rossi.

Meanwhile, the 2008 Cinema One entry Imburnal shared the Special Mention honor with Malaysian James Lee's Call If You Need Me.

Another Filipino indie film, Aurora, also competed in this year's edition of the Bangkok IFF.

The jury of the Southeast Asian Category was composed of Vincenzo Bugno, Royston Tan, and Tul Waitoonkiat.

Independencia producer Arleen Cuevas informed PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) that the Philippine delegation was composed of herself, Imburnal director Sherad Anthony Sanchez, Aurora director Adolfo Alix Jr., Imburnal producer Ronald Arguelles of Cinema One, and director Senedy Que.

Brillante Mendoza served as a jury member in the main competition of the Bangkok IFF and his obra Kinatay was screened in the non-competition section.

The Piolo Pascual-starrer Manila will also be screened in the Southeast Asian Panorama section. It was recently announced that the film, co-directed by Adolf and Raya, would compete in a separate film festival that will take place in Warsaw, Poland. (CLICK HERE to read related article.)

The jury awarded Independencia the Grand Prize in the Southeast Asian category "for its strong cinematic expression. The film is visually adventurous with humor, expressing historical aspects while also very friendly to the audience."

Meanwhile, Imburnal earned a Special Mention "for putting together a very risky concept with complicated sociopolitical background, and for the director's courage and bravery."

The NETPAC Award was given to Independencia "for its cinematic creation exploring the history of the Philippines and the history of Philippine Cinema within the limited space and with a few characters."

Raya Martin's "Independencia" and "A Short Film about the Indio Nacional" rare back to back screenings from September 14-19 at U.P. Cine Adarna

2009-09-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Raya Martin's "Independencia" and "A Short Film about the Indio Nacional"
rare back to back screenings from September 14-19 at U.P. Cine Adarna

Raya Martin’s critically acclaimed films “Independencia” and “A Short Film about the Indio Nacional” will be screened at University of the Philippines Cine Adarna from September 14-19, 2009. The two films form the first two parts of a planned trilogy. The concept of the trilogy has two basic premises: first, that each film will be set in (not necessarily about) a particular period of struggle in Philippine history (the Spanish, American, and Japanese occupations); and second, that each will be made in an aesthetic prevalent to the period in question. Their narratives aren’t causally linked, only thematically. The third film is in pre-production.

Raya Martin's “Independencia”, is the first Filipino film to screen in Un Certain Regard, an Official Selection section of the Cannes Film Festival 2009. The film stars Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi, Tetchie Agbayani and Mika Aguilos.
"Independencia" has been invited to several international film festivals namely Munich, Brussels, Toronto, Bangkok, Vladivostok, Rio, Calgary, Sitges, Sitges, New York, Pusan, Valdivia, Antalya, Vienna and more.

Meanwhile, "A Short Film about the Indio Nacional (Or the Prolonged Sorrow of the Filipinos)" which is Raya's first film, won the Best Film at Pesaro Film Festival in 2006. Both films are shot and will be screened on 35mm film.

The films are directed by Raya Martin, one of the most talent young filmmakers in the Philippines, whose films have been garnering critical acclaim both in the Philippines and around the world. His other film Next Attraction won the Grand Jury Prize in the Cinemanila International Film Festival 2008, and another work, Now Showing, was selected for the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival last May 2008.
The films are presented by Cinematografica Films. The screenings are dedicated to Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc.

The schedules are:
A SHORT FILM ABOUT THE INDIO NACIONAL, SEPT 14-16, 5 PM

INDEPENDENCIA, SEPT 14-17, 7 PM and SEPT 18-19, 1 PM

"Independencia" Synopsis, 35mm, 77 minutes:
Early 20th century Philippines. The sounds of war signal the arrival of the Americans. A mother and son flee to the mountains, hoping for a quiet life. One day, the son discovers a wounded woman in the middle of the forest, and decides to bring her home. Years pass. Man, woman and child live in isolation from the growing chaos all over the country. But a coming storm soon threatens their existence, and American troops draw nearer.
See the trailer. http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=r5rVvv9s8z4

" A Short Film about the Indio Nacional" Synopsis, 35mm film, 96 minutes:
Set in the 1890s brewing revolution of Filipinos against Spain, "Maicling pelicula nañg ysañg indio nacional " is a collection of silent film actualities revolving around an indio, the common man during the colonial times.
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCzECZ2eL4g

Quotes about Raya Martin.
"There is no doubt this is the work of a great filmmaker." –Emmanuel Burdeau, Editor-in-chief, Cahiers du Cinéma

"Raya Martin bases his work - without plagiarism - on the earliest forms of filmmaking. In fact, he reinvents silent film." –Gertjan Zuillhof, International Film Festival Rotterdam

"Raya Martin's beautiful paean to the common man, or 'indio,' of the period is a fascinating work that intermittently rewards patience and confirms Martin's place as a talent to watch." –Jay Weissberg, Variety Magazine

"Indio fills in an historical gap. It does so with constant invention and poetic beauty." –Mark Peranson, Cinema Scope

Raya Martin By Alexis A. Tioseco

2009-09-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

ya Martin

By Alexis A. Tioseco

The brand of social realism espoused by the better films of Lino Brocka (Manila in the Claws of Neon, 1975; Insiang, 1976; Orapronobis, 1989), has become the dominant form of socially conscious filmmaking in the Philippines over the past four decades. This form of filmmaking was important for its time: when the government had control of the media, to tackle social issues directly through cinema meant to lift a blindfold. But as the means of communication become more difficult to suppress, society no longer attempts to hide its corruption and moral bankruptcy the way it once did. Faced with a population inundated daily with the misery of reality—from television, newspapers and neighbours, to what one sees on the streets on one’s daily commute—the challenge of a socially committed artist is to make their viewer feel, with a renewed intensity, what surrounds them. Two valid propositions for today’s filmmaker: to encourage a greater understanding of what is by examining in detail its context (as in the work of Lav Diaz) or to encourage thoughts of what can be by appealing to the imagination (as in the work Raya Martin). As Chris Marker said not so long ago, “Rarely has reality needed so much to be imagined.”

“What will you do with all your liberty?” poses one character to another at the end of Martin’s feature debut A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (2005). The young theatre actor to whom it is addressed simply looks confused, and the eager revolutionary who asks it runs into the forest expecting battle, but is greeted instead by an empty field, and the shadow of evening falling.

This question could very well be considered the starting point for Independencia (2009), one of two films of Martin’s premiered in Cannes 2009. (Independencia screened in Un Certain Regard, while, Out of Competition in a Special Screening there was Manila, a two-part homage to Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal, co-directed with Adolfo Alix Jr. Martin directed the Bernal tribute).

Indio Nacional and Independencia form the first two parts of a planned trilogy. The concept of the trilogy has two basic premises: first, that each film will be set in (not necessarily about) a particular period of struggle in Philippine history (the Spanish, American, and Japanese occupations); and second, that each will be made in an aesthetic prevalent to the period in question. Their narratives aren’t causally linked, only thematically.

Indio Nacional is made with the elements of pre-20th century reality: silent, shot on black and white 35mm stock with a stable camera, utilizing title cards to describe the action or represent dialogue. Much of the film follows three characters during the last days of the Spanish occupation in the Philippines (mid-1890s) with scenes of daily life spliced in between. However, there is also a prologue: three extended shots, in digital, colour, and with sound, of a restless woman, unable to sleep. She tosses and turns in her small hut, the room illuminated only by a candle, before waking up her companion and requesting a story. The story he tells isn’t your typical bedtime story; it’s a profound allegorical tale about nationhood and sacrifice, and the teller can hardly contain his emotions as he tells it. When this sequence takes place is undefined; it is distinct from the rest of the film, but it sets the mood for what follows.

Set during the American occupation, Independencia is made in the style of a ‘30s Hollywood studio film: shot entirely on a set, featuring painted backdrops, thick make-up on the actors’ faces, and an exaggerated acting style. Significantly, he took something out of the typical Hollywood studio film, as well: their blatant racial stereotyping. Independencia opens with a beautiful sequence of a celebration in a small town interrupted by the sounds of war encroaching. A jarring cut introduces us to our eventual protagonists for the film’s first half, a mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and son (Sid Lucero), who we see inside their home packing their things to leave. As she blows out a candle the screen fills with black and a drum kick signals the credits. The tone of the film is set, and also its rhythm: the action is engaging but the cuts are brisk, almost awkward: Martin wants to both absorb you, and keep you conscious of what he’s doing. Even stronger examples of this consciousness appear later on: in the satiric newsreel that divides the films two halves, and a startling moment when a character turns and addresses the camera: “I hear the sound of the Americans. They are very close. Listen.”

Martin isn’t attempting to make a historical film in Independencia, to make claims about a history and a relationship with America that remains convoluted and charged. What he is doing is using this artifice, these obvious lies, to create a new truth. As Cocteau wrote: “I’ve always preferred mythology to history. History is composed of truths which become lies, mythology of lies which become truth.”

Indio Nacional began with a myth—the story the husband tells the wife at bedside—and Independencia ends with one. The second half of the film focuses on a family: a man (the son now grown up), a woman (a stranger he finds in the forest), and a child. The child belongs to two worlds. His skin (light) and features are of those of a child of mixed blood, that of his mother and the American soldier (heard but not seen) who raped and abandoned her in the forest (implied but not depicted).

The child is curious, constantly gets lost (but never harmed) while exploring the forest, a space to which, as the film progresses, he seems to belong to more and more. As the Americans draw near, a violent storm erupts, claiming the lives of the parents. Embraced by nature, the son survives. As morning breaks, a bird comes to rest gently with him, suggesting further his unique relationship with nature.

Shortly after, he is discovered by two American soldiers (one bearing the now infamous Teddy Roosevelt moustache), together with their Filipino ally. The Filipino, surprised, perhaps, by his having survived the storm, asks him: “Where did you come from, boy?” and, looking to the heavens, “Up there?”

The child breaks free from the Americans (who duly cock their rifles and fire at him), and climbs a rock, escaping to the top of a mountain. As the camera tracks forward, the artificiality of the set comes into closer view. He glances around himself briefly, and then slowly leaps. At this moment, the sky lights up: turning from yellow to an intense blood red (in pseudo “painted on celluloid” fashion, an ode to Brakhage, Martin claims), waves emanate and quiver, the sound of the wind intensifies, the voices of a children’s choir fill the soundtrack, and the film ends.

The film clearly believes the child is gifted—even his cloak appears coloured in the final shot—but whether he survives the fall or not is no longer of consequence. What is important is the implication behind his decision: that he alone has decided his fate, and not another.

The remnants of American culture are everywhere in the Philippines, its influence obvious in the twang with which many speak, the style in which many dress, and the ideas many have of what cinema should be. Like the young boy in Independencia, the traces of American culture are still in our system, if not in our blood. But how we choose to live now, what we choose to do with our independence, with our liberty, is our decision.

Chinua Achebe writes: “Did not the black people in America, deprived of their own musical instruments, take the trumpet and the trombone and blow them as they had never been blown before…And the result, was it not jazz?” In Independencia Martin has crafted a film that uses a mode of filmmaking, an instrument, popular to American cinema of the period, and subverts it, playing it for his own end, and in the process creates something strikingly original, something new.

http://www.cinema-scope.com/cs39/spot_tioseco_alexis.html

2 RP entries in Toronto film fest

2009-09-11T04:07:00.000-07:00

Only in Hollywood
2 RP entries in Toronto film fest
By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:35:00 09/10/2009

TORONTO—No two films could be as different from each other as the two Philippine entries in the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF): Raya Martin’s “Independencia” and Mike Sandejas’ “Dinig Sana Kita (If I Knew What You Said).” But that’s a good thing. It is time for more variety in our country’s film festival entries.

When we commented via e-mail about his refreshing choices, Raymond Phathanavirangoon, TIFF’s Southeast Asia programmer, said, “I’ve seen quite a number of shaky handheld cams running-through-the-slums films in the last few years. I’m frankly looking for new angles and new stories coming from the Philippines. That said, if it’s done well, I’ll consider it.

“But I’ve even said this to indie filmmakers in Manila when I was there—in order to sustain the ‘Philippine New Wave,’ films must also be able to cross over into the mainstream. It’s been years since ‘The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros’ which made an impact internationally and became an indie local hit. ‘If I Knew What You Said’ is, to me, a crowd-pleasing film that really could move the audience, whether in Makati or in Toronto. I’m not sure if audiences here will be surprised or not, but they will hopefully enjoy it.”

We’ll find that out when the film—Mike Sandejas’ teen romance between a rebellious girl rocker (Zoe Sandejas, Mike’s own daughter) and a deaf boy who loves to dance (Romalito “Rome” Mallari, hearing impaired in real life) — is screened in Toronto on September 11, 3:30 p.m. (AMC 7), September 13, 4:30 p.m. (AMC 2) and September 19, 11:00 a.m. (AMC 10).

“Independencia,” which made history as the first Filipino film to be shown in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival last May, is a family drama set in the early 1900s that mimics the early silent films. Raymond is dedicating the screenings to Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc, the film critics who were killed in Quezon City last week. The programmer said, “They deserve recognition for all they have done for cinema. Plus, they were very close to Raya and very much championed ‘Independencia.’ ”

Raya has decided not to attend the TIFF because of this tragedy. He also did not answer our questions about “Independencia” in the TIFF for this column—we understand.

The screening dates: September 12, 12:45 p.m. (Scotiabank Theatre 3), September 13, 6:15 p.m. (AMC 5) and September 17, 7 p.m. (Varsity 2).

“Independencia” producer Arleen Cuevas told me via e-mail that in the Philippines, the film will be shown back to back with Raya’s first feature, “A Short Film About the Indio Nacional,” at the UP Film Center from September 14 to 19. These two films are part of Raya’s planned trilogy.

On how he eventually chose “Dinig ... ” and “Independencia,” Raymond explained: “‘Independencia’ is an intelligent, beautiful formalist piece that questions the art of cinema itself. And it tackles a period that is rarely examined in Western media — the invasion of the Philippines by the Americans. That said, it is very accessible despite its deeper dimensions since it takes the guise of the Filipino melodrama ...

“As for ‘Dinig ... ’ the director (Mike) obviously understands young people well, and the two leads are really charming. Of course, the fact that it tackles the subject of the deaf and their struggles adds an important dimension as well.”

We asked Mike, whom we interviewed via e-mail before he left Manila for Toronto, what he thought of his work’s chances in international film fests since RP entries usually showed the gritty, seamy side of life. “Honestly, it was all we had — hope,” said the law school dropout who learned filmmaking by working as a producer/production manager for such Filipino filmmakers as Mike De Leon, Gil Portes and Lav Diaz. “We knew we were going against the flow. We were not out to prove anything about Filipino cinema. I just wanted to do something that expressed my passion for my craft and my advocacy for the deaf. I felt that I was being led to do this film because it was a mission of sorts ... ”

Bucking the trend

“I have nothing against films with darker themes,” said Mike of bucking the trend. “I just thought that maybe with this film, we can thematically widen the spectrum of Philippine independent films. We are happy to be going to the TIFF. Maybe we are opening a door of sorts to some Filipino filmmakers who share similar themes and sensibility. Maybe foreign audiences want to see something else. Maybe it’s time we did show something else.”

As the father of a teenage girl, we had to ask Mike—how challenging was it to direct Zoe? Raising a young daughter is a challenge in itself but to have to direct her as well? “It was challenging because we are both strong-willed artists and often disagree on things at home,” admitted the father of four girls (Zoe is the eldest). “Putting aside our relationship as father-daughter and bringing a professional attitude to the set was tough. I had to push her abilities in some scenes. I had to be her director. She had to grow up fast. She’s only 16.”

“The easy part of it was that I love my daughter so much,” continued the proud dad whose film “Tulad ng Dati (Just Like Before)” won the Cinemalaya Best Film prize in 2006 and went on to compete in the Pusan IFF New Currents Section. “Thus, the care and diligence I exercised in raising her was the same I did for her in the film. Every thought and emotion she had, I shared with her as we did the film. We learned so much about each other as we worked together. She knew my style and way of thinking in filmmaking and followed it. It was like being a basketball coach with a great point guard. Making the film made us much closer. I am happy that other filmmakers have been asking about casting her in their films.”

(To be concluded on Saturday)

A TIFF Programmer Talks INDEPENDENCIA

2009-08-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

A TIFF Programmer Talks INDEPENDENCIA
Posted by Todd Brown at 7:59pm.
Posted in Film News , Drama, South Asia, Toronto Film Festival 2009.

[The Toronto International Film Festival’s south-east Asia programmer Raymond Phathanavirangoon has been giving us a guided tour of his selections for the big festival and today he checks in with some thoughts on Independencia.]

Hi all, after my brief explanation on the director’s cut of NYMPH, the next one I’d like to introduce is Raya Martin’s INDEPENDENCIA, a critical darling when it screened in Cannes earlier this year. Apart from being selected for TIFF, the film has also recently been invited to the New York Film Festival. It’s a title that will surely be popular among festivals and cineastes.

Fans of Guy Maddin will find lots to like here, from the clever use of early silent film techniques and hand-painted backdrops to the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography and lush score. But this ain’t MY WINNIPEG (or MY MANILA); the genius of this film comes from the rich evocation of Filipino traditional folklore and melodrama, using visual tricks as well as a hilarious American propaganda piece to make its point. It’s also a rare glimpse of the colony back in the late 19th/early 20th century. See, at the time the Philippines declared independence from the Spanish, but only to be sold under the table to the Americans. INDEPENDENCIA takes place during the eve of the American invasion and follows a mother and son as they set out to escape the occupation to live in the jungles.

Definitely it’s one of the most unique films in the festivals. And director Raya Martin will be attending, so please do come by and say hi!

2009-08-22T05:03:00.001-07:00

Independencia on Facebook

MOVIE POSTER OF THE WEEK: "INDEPENDENCIA"

2009-08-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

21AUG09 PICTURE
MOVIE POSTER OF THE WEEK: "INDEPENDENCIA"
by Adrian Curry

Independencia, just recently selected for the New York Film Festival, is 25 year old Filipino auteur Raya Martin’s seventh feature and hopefully the film to make his name in the States. Martin is part of what Mark Peranson, back in 2005, called the “first ripples” of a Filipino New Wave, a wave that seemed to be cresting, or at least gathering speed, at this year’s Cannes where Brillante Mendoza won the best director award for Kinatay, and Martin had two films in the official selection, this and Manila (co-directed with Adolfo Alix Jr). Until Mendoza’s Serbis last year, there had only ever been one Filipino feature in the history of the New York Film Festival: Lino Brocka’s Insiang in 1976.

Set in the early 20th Century during the American occupation of the Philippines, Independencia is entirely shot on studio sets with painted backdrops (you can see the trailer here). All of Martin's films, as far as I can tell, are heavily stylized, adopting the dominant aesthetic of the period of Filipino history he is dealing with (whether silent cinema, or portrait photography, or Hollywood studio productions) and Independencia has earned comparisons to Murnau, Von Sternberg and Guy Maddin.

When I contacted Raya Martin to ask him about his astonishing poster he told me that there are “two things I love more than, say, editing a film: thinking of a title and designing a poster. So I usually already have ideas even when I’m just shooting it. I came across an old postcard photo of a woman with a hole as a head. It looked like paper eaten by a cockroach overnight in place of her face. Somehow there was also comfort in that creepy looking picture. So we decided to do something like that.”

The result has an almost J-Horror quality, though also saying something potent about the obliteration of history. In the Philippines, however, since the actors are well known, the official poster, while striking, is rather more conventional.

[Many thanks to Raya, and to Joe Bowman whose invaluable round-up of posters of nearly every film in Toronto, Venice and the NYFF alerted me to this.]

http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/932

Independencia review by http://oggsmoggs.blogspot.com/

2009-07-01T07:32:00.001-07:00

Independencia (Raya Martin, 2009)

On June 12, 1898, a group of self-proclaimed generals and their supporters declared independence for an archipelago who has been under Spanish rule for more than three centuries. Since then, the archipelago has been the colony of the Americans for more than four decades and the Japanese for around three years before being granted by the Americans who rescued the islands from the clutches of the Japanese with independence on July 4, 1946. In an effort to acknowledge the sacrifices of the revolutionaries who strove for freedom from the Spanish, the Philippine government transferred Independence day from July 4 back to June 12, notwithstanding the fact that the waving of the Philippine flag by the momentarily victorious generals was more symbolic than real, given the fact that at that moment, the Americans have bought the islands, along with Puerto Rico, from the Spanish as if it were real estate. Thus, it is not very surprising that the concept of independence has been nothing but an elusive euphamism for most Filipinos. It is easily mistaken for patriotism, love for country, or worse, radicalism. With more than a century since the Filipinos declared for themselves independence, can this nation truly consider itself independent?

Last June 12, 2009, Raya Martin came home from Cannes to screen his aptly titled film Independencia to his countrymen. Martin, who alongside several internationally acclaimed Filipino filmmakers like Lav Diaz (Melancholia (2008) and Kagadanan sa Banwaan Ning mga Engkanto (Death in the Land of Encantos (2007)) and Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay (Slaughtered, 2009) and Serbis (Service, 2008)) have been accused of making films for foreign audiences instead of his fellow Filipinos, is unrelenting in his art but nevertheless values truth above visual and narrative pleasures. Martin creates films about concepts that matter to him. He seeks to recreate a historic past that he, and most other Filipinos have been deprived of (Maicling Pelicula Nañg Ysañg Indio Nacional (A Short Film About the Indio Nacional, 2005), where short film vignettes of ordinary Filipinos during times of peace and war; and Autohystoria (2007), where the murder of revolutionary Andres Bonifacio and his brother is reenacted as a contemporary tale of political salvage), or his own personal memories (Now Showing (2008), a film that is divided into two parts: the first part about a girl's whimsical childhood and the second part about the girl living out her life borne out of his joyous past as punctuated by a traumatic event that separates the two parts), or filmmaking (Next Attraction (2008), also a film that is divided into two parts: the first part is about a film crew making an independent production and the second part shows the film they made).

Independencia is largely composed of nuances and minute details. The story is simple. A mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and his son (Sid Lucero) retreat into the middle of the jungle as American troops start invading the towns. Mother and son lead an austere yet satisfying life away from civilization until the son finds a woman (Alessandra de Rossi), injured and presumably raped by the Americans. The mother dies of illness. The man and the woman, along with her son (Mika Aguilos) start living together peacefully in the middle of the jungle. There are no heroes, no resounding acts of patriotism, and no rousing marches or melodies. Perhaps the most conspicuous element of Independencia is the aesthetics that it borrows from early American talkies. Shot entirely inside a sound studio that is refashioned into a jungle with painted backgrounds, plants, birds, and other creatures and sound effects that realistically capture the atmosphere, the film is oftentimes breathtaking to look at, with cinematographer Jeanne Lapoirie making use of artificial lighting to create haunting images that compliment Lutgardo Labad's momentous score.

There's a reason behind Martin's use of borrowed aesthetics. As with Maicling Pelicula where Martin makes use of silent film aesthetics as reaction to a recorded history that is predominantly centered on the privileged instead of the masses, Independencia's aesthetics marks as both an indignation of the cinematic culture that the Philippines has been deprived of (either by ignorance or deplorable film archiving, given the fact that most pre-war Filipino films have been lost to decay) and a commentary on the hypnotizing and bamboozling effect of what seems to be America's most enduring gift to the Filipinos: the love for cinema. In the middle of Independencia, the film gives way to a fake news reel about a kid who was shot dead by an American soldier for pilfering crops from a vendor. Accompanied with humorous sarcasm and satire, the reel is nonetheless telling of the mis-education that the Americans have inflicted on the Filipinos, to the point that the latter is willing to digest the blatantly illogical and immoral to please their colonial masters.

Independencia tackles the concept of independence in its most unadulterated form, where both mother and son sacrifice the comforts of colonial living, of so-called civilization to live in the jungle. By stripping themselves of their colonial past, they become subjects of nature and the elements. Beliefs transform as pre-colonial lore, with passed-on tales of powerful talismans and golden skinned deities, become redundant conversational devotions. Their sexual impulses, left unhindered by concepts of religion and morality, occupy both their idle time and dreams. The familial unit remains. More than the familial unit are traces of their former lives made apparent in their subconscious thoughts: the mother dreams of an intense sexual encounter while the son dreams of fighting a war. Independence remains an elusive concept, even to a family who was forced to give up the comforts of colonial living and learned to love the mystic allure of the jungle. Tainted, perhaps forever, with foreign influence, death seems the inevitable freedom.

The pale-skinned boy, presumably the son of the woman with her American aggressors, is the lone character that is truly independent. Born in the jungle with only tales from his known father and mother as guidance to the world, the boy's curiosity expands as he grows older. The Americans are slowly making their way into the jungle. As the jungle becomes less of a haven for the family, their choices get slimmer. For the couple, the rationale of keeping themselves freed from colonial rule is blurred by the demands of the tough times as food is becoming more scarce and a devastating storm is brewing. For the boy, the allure of what's out there seems natural and understandable, considering that the color of his skin hardly matches the skin of both his mother and father. However, the boy chooses independence and sacrifices his life for it. Martin marks the boy's sacrifice with striking colors, meshing style and substance together in a sublime sequence of tremendous beauty and emotion.

According to this reviewer who had the pleasure of seeing Independencia in Cannes, Martin introduced the film to his audience with a wish that people would be able "to die for their country, and for cinema." Morbid as it sounds, Martin's wish proves to be a logical solution to a world where people have forgotten to be independent and cinema has forgotten its role as recorder of culture and history. If death is the only measure to gain this independence, then let us be brave enough to slit our own throats or force ourselves in exile, symbolically. Lest we actually know the pains and pleasures of living outside the mainstream, of living without the influences that mutate the virtues that bind us as human beings, then we cannot honestly consider ourselves truly independent.

2009-06-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

By EMMA KATE SYMONS

Real to Reel

Philippine cinéma vérité: Acclaimed abroad, banned at home

MANILA - Brillante Mendoza, the fearless director at the forefront of a new wave of Filipino independent cinema, is accustomed to extreme reactions to his films.

When "Kinatay" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, the movie critic from National Public Radio in the U.S, John Powers, refused to attend because he said the film promised "no fun at all just brutal nastiness." Veteran critic Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times pronounced it the worst film ever shown at Cannes. Other critics denounced "Kinatay" ("The Butchered") -- which follows a day in the life of a young criminology student who gets caught up in the rape, murder and cutting up of a prostitute's body -- as "wretched" and "unwatchable."

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Center Stage Productions/Swift Productions

But Mr. Mendoza was vindicated. The festival's programmers compared him with cinéma vérité legend, the late American actor and film director John Cassavetes, and awarded the Filipino the best director prize. He edged out such established names as Hollywood's Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee, and Spain's Pedro Almodovar, as well as South Korea's Park Chan-wook and China's Lou Ye.

"It's a tough film to watch and a tough film to make," Mr. Mendoza concedes of his latest work. The film revolves around a criminal gang of police officers who answer to an ex-convict. It features a lengthy scene shot from inside a moving van as the gang prepares to rape, stab and dismember the woman before scattering her body parts around Manila. The director says he deliberately set about unsettling the audience by bringing them on "a journey into darkness" alongside the main character, Peping, the criminology student. "It was not because I wanted them to go home terrified. I want people to be disturbed...by making them see that the world isn't as safe as it seems. Here is a normal person like any one of us but at one point he is trapped."

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Agence France-Presse

Mr. Mendoza's film is the first from the Philippines to snare an award at prestigious Cannes. The victory is another sign that the nation's thriving independent filmmakers -- who made about 50 films last year -- have arrived on the global silver screen.

He is also the first Asian director to be included in the official competition two years in a row after his film "Serbis" ("Service") was nominated in 2008. While "Serbis" missed out at Cannes, that year Philippine independent films garnered at least 28 awards for everything from scriptwriting to acting at other international festivals from Korea's Pusan to Paris.

Behind their red-carpet success lies a combination of factors. For a start, the Philippines, with its mix of cultural influences from Spanish and U.S. colonialism, ethnic diversity and distinction as Asia's only largely Catholic country, offers a vivid backdrop for creative filmmakers. An often corrupt and colorful political and business elite presiding over a nation beset by poverty, violence and a separatist conflict on the southern island of Mindanao adds to the rich pickings for story lines. Consider the tale of Joseph Estrada, a one-time action movie star who built his political appeal on playing scrappy underdog roles. He won the presidency in 1998 and was ousted in a military-backed popular uprising after serving less than half his six-year term. Convicted of taking kickbacks from illegal gambling rackets, a charge he denied, Mr. Estrada was then pardoned by his successor -- and now wants to make a political comeback.

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In recent years, digital technology also has played a crucial role by lowering the costs of filmmaking, enabling a wave of new young indie directors to flourish. Plus, they have forged ties with French film production companies, with their access to state funds, and French festival organizers, which has helped bring their work to international attention. Yet, ironically, the Philippines' strict censorship laws prevent most of these edgy films from being shown in commercial cinemas at home.

All the acclaim from abroad comes as the country's film industry celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first recognition at an international festival. Once home to a big film studio system, today there are only two major studios left. Documentary-style films by notable Filipino directors as Lamberto Avellana began winning international awards in the 1950s. But it was really with the emergence of socially and politically conscious filmmakers such as Lino Brocka in the 1970s that the Philippine independent cinema took off.

Mr. Brocka's powerful melodramas depicting poverty and political resistance put him in conflict with the oppressive regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos, who tried to ban some of his films including "Insiang" and his Cannes-nominated "Bayan Ko" ("My Country").

Influential French producer and director Pierre Rissient brought Mr. Brocka's work to Cannes in the late '70s, kickstarting a film movement in the Philippines that is independent both for its lack of backing by the big studios and for its controversial subject matter.

Today, the 49-year-old Mr. Mendoza is the brightest star in what French film director and scriptwriter Rebecca Zlotowski calls the "constellation" of Philippines art-house film. Following Mr. Mendoza is a diverse band of mostly younger directors, ranging in age from early 20s to early 50s, who often collaborate and have helped confirm their country's status as a darling of the international festival circuit over the past few years. Among them are Raya Martin, Adolfo Alix Jr., Sherad Anthony Sanchez and Lav Diaz, the so-called father of this family of experimental filmmakers who eschew traditional narrative techniques.

"Despite the youth of most of these directors, they are making very mature cerebral radical films," says Ms. Zlotowski, a member of the selection committee for this year's Cannes Director's Fortnight, which runs parallel each year to the festival and spotlights full-length feature films, short films and documentaries. "The common denominator of all these films is their attention to social problems such as homosexuality, adoption, delinquency and poverty and their documentary style." The Filipino filmmakers, she adds, "are actually contributing to the ongoing breaking down of the distinction between documentary and fiction" that is occuring in movies globally.

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Agence France-Presse

Three Filipino films were among the official screenings at Cannes this year including Mr. Martin's "Independencia," a film about colonialism and independence in the Philippines, which was chosen for the Un Certain Regard or experimental section.

Also in the special screenings lineup was "Manila," a joint project by Messrs. Alix Jr. and Martin. The film is a tribute to cult Philippine directors Mr. Brocka and Ishmael Bernal, another leader of the earlier wave whose extraordinary 1982 epic tale of rural religious hysteria "Himala" ("Miracle") last year won the CNN Asia Pacific Screen Awards Viewers Choice Award for best Asia-Pacific film to date. It stars local heartthrob Piolo Pascual, who also co-produced the film.

Arleen Cuevas, the producer behind both "Manila" and "Independencia," contends that Filipino film is currently "the most exciting in Asia" because of its diversity ranging from the experimental style of Mr. Martin to the socio-realism of Mr. Mendoza. "Filmmakers are doing different kinds of cinema and there are different kinds of vision and style, but all are coming from one country," she says.

Unlike the younger directors such as Messrs. Martin and Alix Jr. who went to film school, Mr. Mendoza is self-taught. Often labeled neorealist in style, he left a job in advertising production design in 2004 to work on his first film "Masahista" ("The Masseur") set in Manila's male massage parlors. It won a Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Festival in Switzerland in 2005.

Committed to telling the stories of what he terms the 90% of Filipinos who "don't live in decent conditions," Mr. Mendoza offers no apologies for making his critics and audiences uncomfortable with his detailed explorations of the seamier side and double standards of life in the Philippines.

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Agence France-Presse

In 2008, "Serbis," about a dilapidated family cinema turned porn-screening hall that has become a market for rent boys and their clients, garnered awards at international film festivals. After it opened at Cannes, there was outrage in some quarters over its graphic sex scenes and a notorious moment of the lancing of a festering boil on the buttocks of one of the characters.

"You can't always please everyone especially with my kind of stories," Mr. Mendoza says. "They are not really entertaining stories. They make you want to think."

It isn't just programmers and audiences at continental European film festivals who are taking notice of the innovative cinema coming out of Manila as well as the provinces. Mindanao native Mr. Sanchez, 24, won the top prize at the Korean Jeonju International Film Festival in May for "Imburnal" ("The Sewer"). The film was produced by Ronald Arguelles.

The jurors praised the film -- which opens with a nearly eight-minute single shot of a boy lying in one of the sewers -- as an "innovative, experimental, even miraculous work." They also called it a "unique blend of documentary and fiction, which returns us to the fundamental question of the past and the future: What is cinema?"

Mr. Sanchez's poetic four-hour meditation on the lives of delinquent teens hiding out from vigilante murderers in the sewers of Davao also received the Netpac prize, awarded by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema at Jeonju.

Festivals in North America, including New York's, now frequently feature Filipino filmmakers' works and the UCLA Film & Television Archive recently ran a retrospective of Mendoza films in Los Angeles. Last year, the Paris Cinema International Film Festival, a mid-tier event on the annual global festival calendar, gave Philippine films a boost by featuring them exclusively as the country of honor.

The Philippines' strict censorship rules and a distribution system that favors safe Hollywood films or local commercial blockbusters mean most of the indie films making their mark abroad won't be screened in the cinemas of this country of 90 million people, more than half of whom are under the age of 25.

Mr. Sanchez's "Imburnal," in a dialect of the Visayan language spoken in Davao, was given an "X" rating before its canceled premiere at the Cinemanila International Film Festival last year, upsetting international jurors and festival-goers alike. It was eventually shown in a censored version but has never received general distribution. The film was rejected for distribution three times by the censorship board because of its "objectionable presentation of poverty."

"Every time a Filipino film director wins an award somewhere, we always go back home and share the same sentiment -- frustration that our films can't be distributed back here," says Mr. Sanchez. "It's strange because you don't fulfill your main objective, which is to share your film with the people of your own country."

Marlon Rivera is president and chief creative officer of Publicis advertising agency in the Philippines and the producer of "100," which shares the same premise as the popular 2007 Hollywood film "The Bucket List." The Philippine film focuses on a terminally ill woman who decides to do 100 things she has always wanted to do before dying. With its slick production style, and focus on the milieu of wealthy young professional Filipinos in Manila, "100" is considered more "mainstream" than most Philippine independent cinema. It was screened at the Marrakesh International Film Festival and experienced critical and commercial success in the Philippines.

Mr. Rivera says a "new Puritanism" has overwhelmed the Philippines in the past decade resulting in much heavier-handed censorship rulings. For "100," directed by Chris Martinez, to be shown at a commercial cinema, a sex scene in the film had to be limited so that only a small portion of the naked back of a woman could be seen.

"Aurora," a new film by Mr. Alix Jr., 30, hasn't been released in the Philippines because it was slapped with an "X" rating by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, which was created by decree under former President Marcos. "It is about a social worker who is kidnapped in the south by bandits but in the middle part of the film she is raped. Well the censors said it was too explicit so they banned it."

Independent filmmakers also are criticized for their "negative" presentations of the hard lives of ordinary Filipinos. After Mr. Mendoza won the best director prize at Cannes, a columnist in the daily Manila Bulletin railed that "Kinatay" might dampen tourism to the Philippines.

"I don't think I'm showing a bad image of the Philippines," Mr. Mendoza says in response to such criticism. "I think I'm showing the reality of life in Manila and in the Philippines. This is really happening."

Somewhat unexpectedly, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, known to be a social conservative in the Philippines, applauded Mr. Mendoza's Cannes success. She even tried to draw a parallel between his art and her brand of "moral" politics.

"Director Mendoza's winning movie depicts social realities and serves as an eye-opener for moral recovery and social transformation, which my administration has been pursuing even early on my presidency," Ms. Arroyo said in a public statement, without commenting on the censorship that keeps Mr. Mendoza's films off local screens.

The annual French Film Festival in Manila held this month hoped to avoid confrontation with the censors with a plan to "bring Cannes to Manila" by screening local films and international films that had been shown at the festival. Instead, organisers saw one of the French films, Benoit Jacquot's "A Tout de Suite" given an "X" rating so it couldn't be shown.

Festival organizers wanted to show "Kinatay" for the first time to a Filipino audience but backed down before an inevitable battle with the censorship board. Mr. Mendoza refused to subject his film, which is in Filipino, or Tagalog, with English subtitles, to the censor's cutting room. "I don't want to give them the privilege of cutting my film again," he says, referring to earlier cuts made to his "Serbis" film.

Marc Fabian B. Castrodes, a lawyer who is a member of the censorship board says films screened for noncommercial, limited use such as for private educational purposes aren't subject to classification. So, Mr. Mendoza is taking another tack: "I am taking ("Kinatay") to universities and schools where I can explain that there is such a thing as alternative cinema in the Philippines."

—Emma Kate Symons is a Bangkok-based writer.

Independencia review 2 (http://cinefilipinas.blogspot.com)

2009-06-21T05:23:00.000-07:00

For, with a strong indigenous cultural life, foreign
domination cannot be sure of its perpetuation.
-- Amilcar Cabral

Everyone of us is channeling Americans. For over a hundred years now, we have imitated and internalized their smallest tics and their thickest twang; we aren’t called Little Brown Americans for nothing. Our assimilation of all things American is there to see – though perhaps too self-evident to notice. We eat Kentucky Friend Chicken and McDonald’s burgers and wash them down with swigs of Pepsi or Coca-Cola. We wear the latest shoes from Nike and listen to the latest songs by American Idols. We watch the latest movies churned out by Hollywood, starring our favorite state-side actors. These are our everyday realities. We are, in truth, not as independent as the history books would like us to believe; we are living in the shadow of these insidiously neo-colonial times.

Raya Martin’s Independencia, making its Philippine premiere on Independence Day ironically in a French film festival, may not espouse up-in-arms revolution (how, when the enemy is within us?) but delivers a subtly hortatory message: the Filipino should endeavor to rediscover his pre-colonial roots. It’s the first small step in his long journey towards recovering true independence. Set in the early 1900s and onwards, Independencia avoids, perhaps by default, the grandiosely-scripted and astronomically budgeted depiction of an epical and heroic era: the American occupation. Instead, writer-director Raya Martin astutely focuses on common folks, non-comnbatants: a mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and her son (Sid Lucero) who flee to the forest as soon as the threat of war encroaches on their town.

Here, in this forest, reality seems refracted through a strangely allegorical and magical prism. Birds dart out of the bushes like shimmering bullets; breezes blow unceasingly; ferns and palm fronds sway and bend; a stream ripples and flows through it. In the conversations that will transpire within its bosom, this forest will be alluded to as the object of greed, and two towns go to war for it. This is where mother and son seek refuge. Soon (no one knows the nature of time here) they are joined by a woman (Alessandra de Rossi) who has been raped by American soldiers. In due time, she gives birth to a fair-skinned child.

Independencia, however, is not about a family’s insularity. What this retreat from the outside world ultimately means is a symbolic return to the Filipino’s bedrock strength, a revalorization of his indigenous culture, his pre-colonial past. Within this film’s family, the oral tradition of myths, proverbs, legends and general folklore, is reenacted and passed down from one generation to another. Talk of talismans, giant wild boars, and the aswang circulate among this family in the woods. And the realities in the forest – e.g. the son finding his way home only after turning his shirt inside out, the appearance of wood spirits – don’t seem to contradict what this family partakes in.

Not unlike South American and other Third World writers employing magic realism in their works, Martin harnesses the inherently surreal/fantastical aspects of our folklore in order to mirror the under-emphasized and misrepresented aspects of our culture. Circulated in the deep of the night, circulated during meals, the stories exchanged in the depths of the forest are a kind of nourishment, a defense mechanism that both diverts and fortifies.

And yet in Independencia, Martin has fashioned out one of his least confounding and more accessible films to date. Independencia is not unlike a well-told legend: there are moments of facile objective reality combined with moments that ask us to suspend disbelief. Much of Martin’s unconventional and unpredictable narrative techniques are becoming familiar to us, it seems. He has also decided to meet his audience halfway: much of the counter-intuitive filmmaking we’ve seen in movies like Autohystoria and Now Showing is kept to a minimum. (But perhaps these are just the strictures of this particular film – to be displaced by the stylistic demands of the next film.) Instead of unknowns and non-professionals, he casts well-known, professional actors for this, and they invariably deliver.

Conceived as the second entry in Raya Martin’s cycle of films set during periods of national struggle (A Short Film About the Indio Nacional being the first), Independencia may not mention America once in any of the film’s dialogue but its pernicious presence, its colonizing threat, is palpable. There is a newsreel-like sequence at midpoint of Independencia that brings this home: an actual atrocity by American soldiers shooting a boy suspected of pilfering is reported in quasi-provincial, faux-American accent. The film finesses its point with humor. There are no strident anti-American slogans here. That the American atrocity mirrors what happens in a 1976 film (Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara's Minsa’y Isang Gamu Gamo), only seems to suggest the currency of the Americans’ unchangingly contemptuous, subhuman regard for Filipinos.

Make no mistake, Independencia is a sophisticated post-colonial film and Raya Martin, at least in this instance, a veritable post-colonial filmmaker. Making a virtue of meager funding from European institutions (in particular, the IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund in 2007), he uses unconventional and postmodern approaches to film Independencia. Noteworthy is his reliance on distanciation techniques, which puts the stamp of its real provenance on the film. This film, shot in black and white by Jeanne Lapoirie, may look like an early 20^th century American movie, but it is unmistakably a product of its time. Independencia is a living, breathing film: its colonial discourse is not restricted to the past, but remains as valid as ever. Hence, the tell-tale markers like the theatrical acting and theatrical dialogue, the unnaturally thick make-ups, the hybrid sets (a fusion of natural, live elements and handpainted backdrops brought to life by production designer Rodrigo Ricio), characters talking straight to the camera, the effect of film seemingly running out of its reel are not unjustified instances. The presence of White Leghorns – not introduced to the Philippines until 1950 – in a film that is supposed to be set during the American era also tells us of the timelessness of the issues problematized by this film.

Independencia, however, ends in the most unambiguous terms possible. Orphaned and alone, the fair-skinned boy (Mika Aguilos) enacts the supreme gesture of self-determination. Pursued by American soldiers deep in the forest, the boy makes sure of signifying his true allegiances. His realization of who he is and where he belongs, paints the sky in different shades of brown. This is, after all, the brown man’s world -- his beloved country. Long live the Filipino!

Independencia review (http://cinefilipinas.blogspot.com)

2009-06-21T05:10:00.000-07:00

Maverick filmmaker Raya Martin groped for words in an impromptu speech before the start of the June 12, 2009 Philippine premiere of the film Independencia. 'Anong sasabihin ko?,' he muttered to his companions. The 24-year-old director may not be the best speaker out there, but he speaks volumes with his consistently excellent films.

Independencia is Martin's latest masterpiece. The 77-minute film is the second in a trilogy of films depicting the Philippines under colonial powers. Martin uses dominant film formats and popular entertainment fare during each period to frame his stories. The first film Maicling Pelicula Nang Ysang Indio Nacional utilized kundiman, theatre plays, and silent films to depict the Spanish period. This time around, Independencia employs newsreels and early 20th century studio films with false backdrops to show the destructive effects of the American colonization.

The Americans saw the potential of films as propaganda. They utilized films in their battles. Popular newsreels shown in the United States depicted American soldiers stopping an insurrection in the Philippines. The fighting was pictured as an uprising against an established government and not as a war between two countries. Most of the newsreels were just re-enactments showing American soldiers in good light.

Martin is a young man obsessed with early Filipino films. Most of his films deal with silent films, early 20th-century newsreels, and pre-war Filipino films. In this film, he recreates a movie that counters the jingoistic intent of an American newsreel. He indigenizes the movie’s format and content. The movie features three dark-skinned actors portraying characters fleeing from American troops. The characters speak in an old-fashioned local language. Local myths and superstitions are depicted in the movie.

The false backdrops of the movie riled two viewers seated near me. They complained about the obvious studio sets, which they perceived to be a result of the producers' stinginess. Another one blurted out 'The film is boring.' I expected this kind of reaction from them because I've overheard them saying it was their first time to see a Martin film.

The film Independencia is Martin’s most accessible film so far but it is still arty fare for casual moviegoers. The film is in black-and-white. The film is not talky but speaks a lot about heavy stuff such as colonialism, propaganda, and native resistance. The film does not feature a popular actor. Vilma Santos was originally set to play the mother but later backed out. In hindsight, Tetchie Agbayani is the right and better choice for the role. She is a morena and closely resembles Sid Lucero, who plays her son.

The theme of native resistance was enhanced with the film's utilization or visualization of lines from protest songs such asMarangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan. The song Bayan Kodealt with an image of a caged bird crying and trying to break free. The film featured several released birds flying straight to freedom. The last line of the country's national anthem was enacted at the stunning, blood-stained ending of the film.

Martin may have stammered in his introduction but he managed to greet the audience with 'Happy Independence Day!' It was a happy day too for independent films and independent filmmakers. His courageous film was a perfect ender to a whole day of local film screenings at the 14th French Film Festival at Shang Cineplex.

Independencia review (http://thorsings.blogspot.com/)

2009-06-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Independencia plays like Cocteau Twins' Blue Bell Knoll, form and pattern are forefront while the rest---actors, dialogue, chickens---drift like ambient noise, the swirling layers of synthesizers if you will that wall the experience within the confines of cinema. Independenciaaims to capture the cinematic style of the period it depicts, here, the 35 mm films shot entirely in sound stages during the American occupation in the 1900s.

Free Form: A short rambling on history and why Jose Nepomuceno and co. are probably throwing a party in filmmaker heaven

The first picture with sound reached the Philippines in 1910, and in 1912, New York and Hollywood film companies started putting up offices in Manila to distribute films. The lukewarm reception led two American entrepreneurs to make a film about Jose Rizal's execution. With the curiosity of the Filipino audience piqued, Jose Nepomuceno produced the first Filipino movie, Dalagang Bukid, in 1919, which was based on a highly popular zarzuela piece by Hermogenes Ilagan and Leon Ignacio.

The U.S. colonial government then had already been using films for propaganda (in the guise of education and information dissemination) and locally-produced films---early film producers included American businessmen and local politicians---were only allowed to tackle "safe" issues of reconciliation among classes, religiosity and repentance, themes that prevailed in zarzuelas and theater. Ironically, the people who encouraged the Filipino film industry to grow were also the same people who limited its growth by setting rigid rules on expression.

The 35 mm film was a haunting reminder of our colonial past.

Independencia took that format, and the history that came along with it, and squashed the years of silence that the 35 mm format represented. Premiering in the Philippines on Independence Day makes the realization even more poignant.

I have only seen Japanese World War II propaganda films shot in 35 mm (courtesy of the Filipinas Heritage Library) but I could deduct that director Raya Martin celebrated and challenged both format and form. Independencia is stunning, a black and white magic eye that draws you with hypnotic visuals---look closely and details surface. And just as you get used to the shadowy reverie, Martin slaps you with sex and that clever bit of dialogue spoken to the audience.Apichatpongian in the dreamy texture of the jungle, and in the reveal of the darker side of nature reminescent of the tiger shaman inTropical Malady, what Independencia lacks in momentum it makes up for with seductive mystery.

Raya Martin, whether consciously or not, has handed the 35 mm film back to the hands of early film makers Julian Manansala, Nepumoceno and everyone else who attempted to say something, say anything, but weren't given the chance to capture it on film. Pretty heroic stuff in my book.

Prisoners of Pattern: Thoreau and why that Robots in Disguise song never left my head.

A mother and son run to the woods to live deliberately, to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. The struggle for independence from the American colonial government is mere context to a romantic existential exploration of the absurdity of the concept of freedom. The family (along with the viewers) is plucked from everything familiar and is thrown into a disorienting tangle of trees, shrubs and rivers where they thrive in an illusion of freedom---the jungle itself is a prison of patterns and cycles, the world outside it more so.

Martin seems to say that freedom is not liberum arbitium where we can do as we please even if we are isolated from the rest of society and where values are insignificant to decisions made. In the jungle, there are no societal norms existing, but the values the family holds dear from folklore to, yes, their concept of freedom, is immutable, cultivated from the society of which they were a part of.

The crucial decision that the child makes at the end was dictated by the values he learned from his brief life with his parents.

Could our own values restrict our freedom? (Yes. Hello, Board of Censors.) Or does it dictate what we are free to do? Freedom and responsibility seem to be entwined; there is no freedom from being responsible for one's action. It's a cycle.

Keep moving, keep doing, keep breathing, stay living. Robots in Disguise's Cycle Song in a loop in my head while I am writing this. The mechanical absurdity of patterns, the "unfairness" of the world.Independencia is unabashedly arthouse in form but its thoughtful encounter with the absurd, whether mustached or veined leaf, is all too candidly angsty.

And just because I am free to declare this: It is fucking brilliant.

Rating: 5

Independencia (2009) Directed by Raya Martin
Produced by Arleen Cuevas
Starring Tetchie Agbayani, Sid Lucero, Assunta de Rossi, Mika Aguilos

Independencia review by richard bolisay (www.lilokpelikula.wordpress.com)

2009-06-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Written by Ramon Sarmiento and Raya Martin
Directed by Raya Martin
Cast: Tetchie Agbayani, Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi, Mika Aguilos

The first thing you notice in Raya Martin’s Independencia is its color. Assuming that before you enter the cinema you see things in their usual hues, your eyes are quick to tell you that betraying them should be the last thing in your mind. The sudden adjustment of your eyes to its palette, as if revolting to the uncommon sight of moving black and white images in the big screen, suspends early judgment, for whatever it is that Martin has yet to prove to make his films “accessible” to “common” moviegoers only becomes relevant to people who consider themselves superior to the films they watch. I am not everyone, so I suppose if I may speak against the few whose bias is cultural, and whose thought balloons argue that if a recent French film is shot in black and white it is art, but if it is a Filipino film it is pretentious, my dear friends, I tell you, modesty is overrated. Let the film argue for itself.

Its color is not only noticeable. It is salient; it leaps out of the screen to claim your attention, to hold you still, as if bringing you to the setting of its narrative despite seeing its artificiality. There is consent, but it is not given sincerely. When one is not paying attention, there are many things that get lost, that are not appreciated, that are preempted by the fact that we are seeing a film that is clearly out of our league, whose world is some place we already left to move on. My first viewing of Independencia had me close my eyes because I could not stand Martin’s images. I was not disinterested; I just felt the need to close my eyes to focus more – - and it actually worked. There is an admirable effort to make the dialogues sound faithful to its time – - that is, during the early part of the century when the Americans took over – - and the stories of its characters bring to mind some childhood tales our friends used to tell us during recess, or legends our grandparents used to tell us to put us to sleep. The sound feels less natural, which like the painted backdrops used throughout the film, aims to mimic the filmmaking trend of its time: the use of studio and the theme of resistance. The disbelief is suspended, but other things are also cut loose.

One clever part of the film is when the narrative is interrupted by a newsreel, the partly tragic and the partly humorous account of a boy with “unquestionable motive” shot dead by a soldier, who supposed that the kid was stealing some fruits in the market. I find the reel particularly amusing, that aside from the fact that Martin uses it to simulate the period when watching movies in theaters also meant reading the papers in between and contrary to the fact that the news is not particularly amusing, it has also worked for the narrative, allowing us through the pause to follow more clearly the young man’s life as he bounces from his mother’s lap to his wife’s arms. The dream sequences and animation, which are also quirkily used in Indio Nacional, soften its uptight texture and provide humor to its somewhat humorless facade.

Martin is severely criticized in his previous films for his storytelling – - or as some would say, his lack thereof – - his indulgence to non-importance, his narratives that reek of boredom, his stubborn ambition. Independencia proves that he can do well with a plot as thin as a hair strand, a linear story that recalls early cinema, especially when the plot is only used to say other things, to suggest multitude of ideas, to bring to life a universe of histories. He tells the story the way his requirement needs it to be told, but he is still in touch with the style that he is hated for. While last year’s Now Showing really begs for walkouts, Independencia earns its right to be taken seriously, with less diabolic murmurs and more indicative silence (does sleep fall under silence?).

That he has put his four characters in isolation – - each portrayed wondrously by its actors (except for my complaint about the kid’s rather incredible tone) – - is both logical and ironic. Our geographical location gives the logical part away, and the thousand islands that constitute our land intensifies it even more. The ironic part is that we are also isolated within, that we are trapped in our own isolation, and that we are running away from that thought. Again, the use of color in the end becomes crucial in showing that.

But what becomes significant is not the story but the events that caused them to happen, which I believe Martin has the least concern to tell. In his films he has strived for the heart of subtlety by connecting with the tangled wires of our identity, not by untangling them but by going through them, following the knots till he reaches the end – - the understanding. I will not claim liking Martin’s style – - liking them will make it more complicated to explain, and liking them risks more dishonest statements – - but I am surely affected by them, confounded by their distinct voice, pained by their torturous storytelling, excited by their newness, amazed by their defiance. Independencia, all things considered, cracks open another feeling for me, and that maybe is the guilt in doubting it.

As an audience it is depressing to be hounded by questions instead of answers, that while films may not be entertaining they should at least be modest enough not to pain us emotionally, or confuse us to the point that even the simplest questions like Did you like the film? comes out like the most difficult question in the world to answer. In fact the question Did you like the film? seems rhetorical, and if one obliges to answer it he will soon realize that another question is required to be answered, like If you didn’t like it because it is not entertaining, I wonder, should films be entertaining to be liked? Things like that. Independencia, like Martin’s previous films, poses questions that are not unanswerable but they are difficult to answer because I think Martin doesn’t know the answers to his questions either, so why should I bother? Why shouldwe bother?

And I guess that’s where I see the point of his films, and the reason why he should continue doing them. He stands alone as the hopeful one, the peerless storyteller of Philippine history that forces us to see the image that we refuse to look at, even for a second. We complain that we are always seen as a poor nation, that the films that represent us in foreign festivals are always about poverty – - how tremendously poor can we really get? – - that Kinatay isn’t exactly the proper image of the Philippines that we should project outside. We do not complain about Independencia’s subject because it alleviates our guilt – - our guilt for not caring, our guilt for not letting these things matter – - because it is fed to us that history is important yet we do not really know why. But Independencia also shows how poor we are, how malignantly distant we are to our past, and how unrecognizable, as if our past is only what our textbooks tell us. If Martin’s films represent the true Filipino, then maybe that’s the reason why we choose to be another, to imbibe the culture of another, to becomeanother. That’s why his films are such agony; it is easier not to recognize their power because they leave us powerless. They are not a source of enjoyment because otherwise we should redefine enjoyment.

Our history, if I may borrow Paul Simon’s words, is like a distant constellation that’s dying in a corner of the sky. Like the young man’s failing eyes as he looks at his home, vaguely making anything out of it, his feet barely moving, leaving him at the mercy of leaves and thunder, it all becomes a matter of recognition, of our memory failing us or us failing our memory. And Martin, if I have not yet expressed my sincere admiration, for taking the road less traveled, has surely made all the difference.

http://lilokpelikula.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/independencia-raya-martin-2009/#comments

Independencia, Pasintabi Column, Pinoyweekly.org

2009-06-18T20:12:00.001-07:00

Independencia

Malaki ang interes nang unang ipalabas ang Independencia (2009) ni Raya Martin. Mahaba ang pila sa sinehan sa Shangrila. Marami ay pumila nang apat na oras. Halos magkagulo nang mabalitaang kaunti lamang ang tiket na laan para sa publiko.

Ito ang unang pelikulang Filipino na pinondohan ng gobyerno ng France. Unang pelikulang Filipino rin itong kasama sa line-up ng Un Certain Regard ng nakaraang Cannes Film Festival. Sa katunayan, dalawa ang pelikula ni Martin sa Cannes ngayong taon, kasama ang Manila nilang tambalan Adolfo Alix, Jr. para kay Piolo Pascual. Noong nakaraang taon, kalahok naman ang Now Showing niya (2008).

Sa nakamit na ni Martin sa kanyang edad, siya ang lumalabas na frontliner ng kanyang henerasyon na brat pack na indie filmmakers. “Brat pack” dahil hindi handang magkompromiso ng kanilang independienteng estetika ng sining at pelikula. Hindi kaiga-igaya ang kanilang mga pelikula, mahirap itong maintindihan, namumutiktik ng referensiya ng kasaysayan ng mismong pelikula, kaya hindi lubos na accessible sa maraming manonood.

Kasama sina Khavn De La Cruz, Sherad Sanchez at John Torres, si Martin ay pinapalaot sa feature-length ang konseptual na pelikula ukol sa formasyon ng bansa. Si De La Cruz ay ukol sa modernong kwento ng bansa; si Sanchez, ang spesifikong sityo ng Mindanao sa bansa; si Torres, ang autobiographical sa pambansang kwento; at si Martin, ang transformasyon ng medium ng pelikula sa pagsasabansa.

Sa Cannes’ blog, ipinaliwanag ni Martin ang kanyang estetika: “Formally Independencia mimics the esthetics of studio films during the American occupation, whereas the story focuses on the resistance during the same period. The idea was to expose the Hollywood substrate and subvert it to redefine our struggle. The fake newsreel in the middle of the film is a good example: it is based on the true story of an American and the death of a local boy. This segment is similar to the intermission that we had in the theatres at the time.”

Tinalakay sa Independencia ang mabilisang transformasyon ng teknolohiya ng black-and-white na pelikula—isang medium na kinasangkapan ng kolonialismong Amerikano--at ng naudlot ng pagkabansa. Sa kalagitnaan ng gabi, tumakas ang ilustradang mag-ina (Techie Agbayani at Sid Lucero) patungo sa gubat. Namuhay sila roon sa abot ng kanilang makakaya. Biglang may inuwing walang malay na babae (Alessandra de Rossi) ang kanyang lalakeng anak. Biglang namatay ang ina.

Biglang buntis ang babae, nanganak at lumaki ang sanggol. Biglang bumagyo. Biglang magkahiwalay na namatay ang mga magulang nito. Biglang dumating ang Amerikanong sundalo sa gubat, kasama ng lokal na giya. Biglang tumakas ang bata. Bigla tumungo ito sa tuktok ng bundok, at biglang pumula ang damit na suot nito. Biglang tumalon ang bata sa bundok, at biglang pumula ang silangan.

Ang empasis ng pelikula ay hindi sa masinop na motibasyon ng komersyal na pelikula, na siya ring malakas na daluyan na mini-mimic ng kasalukuyang indie cinema na nangangarap maging mainstream. Sa agaran at walang patumangging pamumukadkad ng salisalikop na direksyon kwento ng Independencia, naipapaloob nito ang usapin ng simulain at pagkaunlad ng medium ng pelikula sa kalakaran ng persepsyon ng mundo, kasama ang bansa.

Mula sa simulain ng pelikula, ang stilong walang camera movement (ang aktor ay labas-masok sa mga eksena), ang mahika ng dating bagong medium (tulad ng pagpapakita ng balloon na naglalaman ng panaginip ng mga tauhan), ang mis-en-scene na pintadong telon ang foreground, hand-coloring ng bawat frame, at preferensiya sa studio setting ay nagsasaad ng ibang mundo at pagmumundo ng pelikula—ang kakayahan ng simulain ng pelikula na dalhin at itransforma ang historikal na mundo ng manonood-mamamayan sa mundong ipinapaloob sa kanila—Hollywood, imahen, imperialismo.

Modernista itong self-referentiality ni Martin: ang kritika ng medium ng pelikula bilang kritika ng pagsaklaw pati ng nasa labas nito—ang pagtatagumpay ng fantasya ng imahinaryo (natratransforma nga ba ang manonood?) sa tunay o historikal. Poetika ang gamit ni Martin para sa self-reflexive mode na ito: tulad sa talinhaga, marami itong pakahulugan, liban sa aktwal na sinasambit nito.

Pagpupula ng silangan, biglang pagpasok ng eksenang nagkakakulay ang saplot ng bata, pagtalon ng bata sa bangin, pagbaligtad ng damit nang maligaw, ang Independencia ay tungkol sa pagwalay at pagtumbok, pagpasok at pagsara, pagkilos at pag-udlot, pagbuo at pagwatak sa bansa, ng kasiyahan at pighati sa pelikula. Ang flatness ng pelikula ay nagtatago sa mga struktura at antas ng pakahulugan nito.

Kaya overkill na ipinalabas ang pelikula sa araw ng kalayaan. Mas inisip ko pang angkop na self-referentiality ng pelikula ay ang tunggalian sa Con Ass (Constitutional Assembly), na muli na namang nagbibigay ng kapangyarihan sa politiko at naghaharap sa bansa sa pagkawatak-watak nito sa milyon-milyong piraso, na ang protesta ng Independencia ay hindi natitinag sa edad ng mapang-abusong paghahari ng iilang lalong nagpapailanlang sa bansa sa imperialistang globalisasyon.

Reel Freedom

2009-06-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

And so the night came when all the free peoples of our beautiful home-metropolis detached themselves from the substrate of their functional particularities in order to hark to another form of substantiated simulacrum which the philistines refer to as ‘indie culture’. There they were, the milk-lipped movie enthusiasts pseudo-mingling with the culturati of the blogosphere, all in their cat-eyed, long-haired, vitriolic glory. The air was rife with the colors of freedom, and so it should, as Raya Martin’s much anticipated and grant-bestowed Independencia puts the waiting crowd in a rare thirst, that which can only be quenched by a decent independent movie or as a matter of fact, a free movie, the latter being immune to any scruples of public decency and choosiness.

But as it turns out the audience did make a choice. Perhaps palled byHollywood’s asphyxiating tinsel truck or the flesh parade of the quotidian Filipino indie film, they are starting to realize that maybe it’s time the directors stop fucking up and start making real movies. Whether Martin is the bearer of good things to come has yet to be seen but at least the good tidings are at hand. His film scintillates in a stylistic sense. The studio scenes are both innocuously attractive and deliberately nostalgic, trying to evoke no doubt the irony of the Philippine-American war set in an extinct aesthetic of a made-up American movie reminiscent of Hollywood’s early, in-studio period. Succinctly, the whole movie feels like a perambulating diorama. The claustrophobic forest with its synthetic weather and painted backdrop introduces Martin to an international audience as well as to his own countrymen as a technically proficient twenty-something colt with a flare for sepia tones and Lutgardo Labad’s classical music. Certainly the soundtrack is eerily gorgeous and the scenes maintaining a static loveliness thanks to the unmoving camera (again part of the aesthetic irony) but the film in general lacked the sensual violence that could catapult Martin’s work into the realm of masterpiece.

But the movie itself is not a failure; it is in fact direct evidence of Martin’s increasing maturity. He opted for a more conventional plot, quite peculiar since the movie was intended for Canne’s Un Certain Regard which tends to be more experimental. The scenes were less sprawling, less Antonionian, and certainly followed a clear and accessible trajectory. The subject matter also lacks the self-indulgence of a lot of Filipino indie films. The merits are still rather closeted but ineluctably undeniable. It has always been the opinion of this blog that the public has been yearning for stories to be told. Never mind art, never mind the idiotic prettiness that flowers in the breasts of dead rats and subtle angles. The days of the art films are over, should be over. If a director wants to find true art, he should look for it through the eyes of his tangible audience, not in the limpid pools of his own abstractions.

And such palpable forces Martin’s characters find themselves in. Confronted by the encroaching realities of war, a mother and her son are forced by their own volition to live in the forest, left with their human devices in an inhuman wilderness. They are typical Filipinos, moved by a typical hunger and a typical lust. It was intriguing to watch Sid Lucero, a young and obedient naïf, masturbating on the riverside, not a staple scene for most period films. The acting was itself like that of a 19^th century play with de Rossi shining as the most natural despite the classical dialogue. Characterization in general is presented in two layers, the one seen by the outside world and the other intrinsic landscape conveyed through dreams and taciturn stares. Though the ending required a little prestidigitation, overall the characters are moved by the hackneyed and powerful hand of nature, to which they respond as the plot does, with a very Filipino sense of dignity and equanimity. Women are raped, seniors expire, children, like sylvestrian ghouls, come and go like the blinding dusk-edge, but the banana leaves must still be laid, the twig floor swept with the good ol’ broom. It is always a difficulty to live despite of your freedom. Before sidling towards the movie house I noticed Anita Linda entering the restroom, it was probably a sign telling me that though the movie I was going to watch free of charge, some things cost more than we expect.

Written by: Alex Milla (Guest Critic)

http://charliekoon.blogspot.com/2009/06/reel-freedom.html

PEP REVIEW: Independencia defines the price of independence

2009-06-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

PEP REVIEW: Independencia defines the price of independence

Fidel Antonio Medel

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
04:46 PM

Rating

Much has been said about the illustrious history of defiance of the Filipino people against foreign imperialists. A number of films have been made to commemorate the heroism of valiant Pinoys such as Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio. They have paid the price of independence with suffering and eventually with their own life.

But what is independence for the common Filipino? The war is not always punctuated with mighty pens and blood-drenched bolos. The war also echoes faint cries of rebellion and unheard affliction of the oppressed. Raya Martin's latest body of work, Independencia, brings us back to the time when independence is a noble but unattainable concept. Instead of portraying the forefront of the war for freedom, Direk Raya invites us to look at the struggle from another angle.

After reaping accolades for Maicling Pelicula Nang Ysang Indio Nacional (O Ang Mahabang Kalungkutan ng Katagalugan) and Autohystoria, Raya finds himself in the world's most prestigious film festival this year. His latest film, Independencia,competed in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Un Certain Regard, which literally translates to "a certain glance", is a parallel competition to the Palme d'Or (the festival's top plum) that aims to discover young talents and feature audacious works by extending a financial grant to aid the winning film's distribution in France. Compared to other movies being screened in the Cannes Film Festival, the competing works in the Un Certain Regard section are more experimental and avant-garde in their approach to filmmaking.

Independencia offers mostly visual fare with an allusive story characterized by Philippine culture and history. A strong-willed mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and her son (Sid Lucero) were compelled to leave town to escape from the sounds of war.

The family's solitary existence was cut short when the son found an abused woman (Alessandra de Rossi) unconscious in the forest. Together, they took refuge in a derelict hut and toiled to build a shelter and a home. In the jungle, they may be free citizens who could do anything they wish unlike the rest of the population who are at the mercy of the whims of the American troops. However, their freedom is but artificial. They are confined in a claustrophobic world akin to a subconscious prison. Moreover, they are enslaved by their past. The lush tropical forest is unwelcoming. Nature is raging with fury. And danger is imminent. The family is a portrait of freedom-loving Filipinos willing to brave the odds just to have a taste of independence. But they too paid the price.

The look and feel of Independencia follows the same vein as Indio Nacional: it aims to imitate the cinematic style of a particular period. Since Independencia is set during the early years of the US colonization, Direk Raya shot the entire film in vivid black-and-white inside a studio and reconstructed a forest setting by dressing it with potted plants, painted backdrops, simulated rain, flying sparrows, and a flowing river.

The idea is to create a realistic-looking forest to emphasize the artificiality of the so-called independence the characters are enjoying. To further imbibe us into the era, the actors spoke in old-fashioned Tagalog. Their dialogues are teeming with superstition, sayings, and tales inherited from their ancestors. The cultural element is so thick (may be to a fault) that it is almost palpable.

Direk Raya's style is not for everyone. Even cinephiles are polarized by his films. People look at his films as either revolutionary or pretentious. But for those who are seeking alternative cinema, this visionary filmmaker may pique your curiosity.

Independencia had its Philippine premiere during the 14th French Film Festival held at Shangri-la Plaza Mall on the 111th day of Philippine Independence.

It will be screened during the 5th edition of Cinemalaya at the Cultural Center of the Philippines this July. It will also have a limited screening schedules this August.

Raya Martin's Independencia a hit at 14th French Film Festival

2009-06-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

Raya Martin'sIndependencia a hit at 14^th French Film Festival

William R. Reyes

Saturday, June 13, 2009
04:37 PM

Hindi inaasahan ng baguhang filmmaker na si Raya Martin ang magandang pagtanggap ng mga Pilipinong manonood sa bago niyang pelikulangIndependencia nang ganapin ang Philippine premiere nito kahapon, Hunyo 12, 2009, sa Shangrila-EDSA Cinema Complex.

Ang premiere night ay kaugnay ng ginaganap na 14th French Film Festival, kung saan may tribute sa mga pelikulang Pilipino, sa pagdiriwang ng ika-111 Araw ng Kasarinlan (Philippine Independence Day).

Kasamang pinakilala si Direk Raya Martin at ang prodyuser na si Arleen Cuevas, at ang dalawa sa mga nagsiganap: si Alessandra de Rossi at ang child actor na si Mika Aguilos Burton. Sa dami ng mga dumating na gustong mapanood angIndependencia ay nagpasya ang prodyuser at pamunuan ng cinema complex (through filmfest organizer Mark Macalintal of the French Embassy) na magkaroon ng dalawang screening, sa ika-8, at sa ika-9:30 ng gabi.

"Masaya ako dahil maraming pumunta at gustong manood ng pelikula ko," sabi ni Raya, ang batambatang direktor (only in his mid-20s) na binigyan ng grant ng French government para gawin ang pelikula.

"I think this year is a specially great time to celebrate Philippine cinema," sabi ni Macalintal, na nangunguna sa pagbati sa mga Pilipinong filmmaker, tulad nina Raya Martin, Adolfo B. Alix, Jr., at Brillante Mendoza na nagwaging Best Director sa 62nd Cannes International Film Festival sa taong ito para sa pelikulang Kinatay (The Execution of P).

On his part, bukod sa Independencia (entry sa Un Certain Regard section ng Cannes Filmfest '09) ay mayroong Manila (Special Exhibition section) na magkatuwang na dinirek nina Raya Martin at Adolf Alix, Jr.

VILMA FIRST OFFERED TETCHIE ROLE. Marami umanong Vilmanians (fans ni Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto) na nagpunta sa premiere night. Gusto nilang mapanood ang pelikula, partikular ang mga eksenang ginawa ni Tetchie Agbayani, na ang papel (bilang ina ni Sid Lucero) ay unang inialok kay Vilma Santos.

"Yes, the role was first offered to her, but [she declined]... nagkaproblema kami sa schedule," pagtatapat ni Direk Raya. "At that time, she was starting to work... yung sa Star Cinema [In My Life]; priority commitment niya, which we understand, kasi matagal na nilang plano yun.

"Nung last naming mag-usap, she [Vilma] really wanted to [do the film]; she really liked the script," sabi pa ni Raya.

Sa sinabing ito ng direktor ay maiisip din, kung nabasa nga ba ni Gov. Vi, at nagustuhan pati ang partikular na eksenang "may ka-sex ang bidang tauhan," na ipapakita (in "graphic detail") bilang tipong "flashbulb memory" ng isang babaeng nawalan ng kabiyak at nalulumbay sa gitna ng pag-iisa, sa gabing malamig?

"Sa original script, meron yun... na ako lang ang nakakaalam," at nangiti si Raya, bago nagpaalam para sa susunod na screening.

LIFE AND SURVIVAL IN THE FOREST. Kinunan nang kabuuan ang Independenciasa black-and-white, at balitang gumamit ang direktor at mga kasamahan sa produksiyon ng isang malaking bodega na nagsilbing setting ng kuwento; ginawa itong mistulang gubat na puno ng mga halaman; may bukal sa gitna, mga hayop at abandonadong kubo na naging tirahan ng mga pangunahing tauhan (Tetchie Agbayani, Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi at Mika Aguilos Burton, pati mga ekstrang Amerikano).

Ang panahon ng kuwento ay naganap sa pagsisimula ng ika-20 siglo, nang sakupin ng mga Amerikano ang Pilipinas matapos ang pananakop ng mga Kastila.

Lumikas mula sa kabayanan ang mag-inang Tetchie at Sid, at natutong mamuhay sa gitna ng masukal na gubat. Kung paanong namuhay rin sa ganitong kalagayan ang sumunod na henerasyon (sina Sid at Alessandra, kasama ang kaisa-isang anak na lalaki) ay siyang buod ng kuwento.

May mga pagkakataong ang buhay ng mag-anak, sa gitna ng kagubatan, ay nalipos ng kahirapan, pagdarahop at taggutom, at may banta ng paniniil mula sa mga dayuhan, pero ipinakitang higit na mahalaga ang kalayaan sa anumang pagkakataon at sitwasyon.

Ikinatuwa ni Raya ang interes ng manonood sa bago niyang pelikula.

"Alam natin, sa nagdaang tatlong taon, ang mga Pilipino ay parang hindi masyadong interesadong manood ng Filipino films. I think,may revival ng ganung attitude, gaya nang dati, na gustung-gusto nating pumunta sa sinehan para manood ng pelikulang Pilipino.

RAYA'S EXPERIMENTS. Kapansin-pansin na "mas kakaiba" ang Independencia sa mga naunang obrang pampelikula ni Raya. Mas "mainstream" ang tinatakbo ng naratibo, na may malinaw na tunguhin ang pagkukuwento, kaysa pagkukuwentong eksperimental, tulad sa iba pang Raya Martin films, namely:

Maicling Pelicola ng Ysang Indio Nacional (2006), a series of silent short films, depicting the early years of the Philippine Revolution in the late 1890s;

Autohystoria (2007), pagbabalik-tanaw sa kabayanihan ni Gat. Andres Bonifacio, na hindi gumagalaw ang kamerang nakatutok sa Monumento, sa Kalookan City, at kinukunan ang mga umiikot na mga sasakyan; o kaya'y naglakad lang nang naglakad ang dalawang tauhan, bago ang reenactment ng pagkakapatay umano ni Emilio Aguinaldo (o ng kaalyado nito) kay Andres Bonifacio;

Now Showing (2008), mga hindi kilalang artista ang gumanap; may birthday celebration na parang kapitbahay o kamag-anak natin ang napapanood; napakanatural ng mga akting; at

Next Attraction (2008), a movie-within-a movie set; gumanap sina Jaclyn Jose at Coco Martin bilang mag-ina; sinadyang ipinakita in its raw form, as in series of rushes, habang ongoing pa ang shoot.

agdag ni Raya, on his latest, Independencia (2009), "Mas 'mainstream' nang konti, pero, siyempre, yung hitsura niya... [tipikal na indie movie, low-budgeted, kaya]... contained siya [sa studio], lahat-lahat, except yung sa gitna."

Suddenly, may "paningit" na mga eksena, nang dumating na ang mga Amerikano, at biglang may eksenang nasa totoong lugar sa isang rural town ang mga tauhan; na ipinakita ang kalupitan ng mga Amerikanong sundalo (tulad sa kontemporaryong paglalahad, noong 1976, saMinsa'y Isang Gamu-Gamo ni Lupita A. Concio).

EXPLORING MAINSTREAM. Tipikal din of a Raya Martin film na yung texture ay parang pelikulang ginawa mismo sa panahong ipinakikita; mayroong bahagi, halimbawa, na nawawala ang mga imahe sa screen, na aakalaing likha ng nasisirang projector o misplaced negative sa reel. At ang istilong ganito ay lalong nakakadagdag sa authenticity ng obra.

"Iba din kasi yung pagod na inilalagay nila dati sa [paggawa ng] pelikula," opinyon ni Raya.

Bukod sa tig-isang "tribute episode" nila ni direk Adolf Alix, Jr. sa Manila, na mula sa mga pelikulang Manila By Night (ni Ishmael Bernal) at Jaguar (ni Lino Brocka), na si Piolo Pascual ang actor-producer, handa na ring gumawa si Raya Martin ng "mas mainstream" na pelikula.

"Kasi, I can do everything, so parang iniisip ko ngayon, iba-iba din. Ayaw ko din yung [sasabihing]... ito, isang klase lang ng pelikula ang dinidirek.

"Yung susunod ko, I think, hindi siya period," nakangiting pagbanggit uli ng baguhang filmmaker na totoong masaya sa naging pagtanggap ng manonood sa bago niyang pelikula.

http://www.pep.ph/news/22099/Raya-Martin's-Independencia-a-hit-at-14th-French-Film-Festival/1/2

2009-06-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Raya Martin's "Independencia" Sneak Preview on Philippine Independence Day

Raya Martin's Independencia, the first Filipino film to screen in Un Certain Regard, an Official Selection section of the Cannes Film Festival will have a sneak preview on Independence day, June 12, 2009, 8pm, in Cinema 3 of the Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong. The screening is part of a tribute to the presence of Filipino Cinema in Cannes 2009 in 14th French Film Festival, sponsored by the French Embassy in the Philippines.

The film is directed by Raya Martin, one of the most talent young filmmakers in the country, whose films have been garnering critical acclaim both in the Philippines and around the world. His film Next Attraction won the Grand Jury Prize in the Cinemanila International Film Festival 2008, and another work, Now Showing, was selected for the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival last May 2008.

Independencia stars Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi, Tetchie Agbayani and Mika Aguilos. The film is presented by Cinematografica, Atopic, and co-produced by Razor Film and Volya Films. It was financed with the assistance of Fonds Sud Cinema, World Cinema Fund, Hubert Bals, Fund, Prince Claus Fund, Global Film Initiative and Roadrunner Network Inc. The film was also supported by Cinemart (of the Rotterdam FIlm Festival) and Cannes Cinefondation Residence.

The film is produced by Filipino producer Arleen Cuevas and French producers Antoine Segovia and Christophe Geugeon. Co-produced by Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul and Denis Vaslin. Cinematography is by Jeanne Lapoirie (who has shot for such esteemed filmmakers as French director Francois Ozon and Portugese filmmaker Pedro Costa). Production design is by Digo Ricio and editing is by Jay Halili.

The producers would like to thank Sen. Manny Villar, Film Development Council of the Philippines, Philippine Embassy in France, Cedo Family and Pascual Family for supporting the Philippine delegates in their trip to Cannes, France.

Synopsis: Early 20th century Philippines. The sounds of war signal the arrival of the Americans. A mother and son flee to the mountains, hoping for a quiet life. One day, the son discovers a wounded woman in the middle of the forest, and decides to bring her home.

Years pass. Man, woman and child live in isolation from the growing chaos all over the country. But a coming storm soon threatens their existence, and American troops draw nearer.

Independencia film excerpt 2

2009-06-04T07:58:00.000-07:00

Independencia excerpt 2 from arleen cuevas on Vimeo.

Les Inrockuptibles article on Raya Martin

2009-06-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

2009-06-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Independencia film excerpt 1 from arleen cuevas on Vimeo.

the brownest bunny by jessica zafra http://jessicarulestheuniverse.com

2009-06-02T03:45:00.000-07:00

Brillante Mendoza has won the Best Director prize for his excoriated film Kinatay at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Michael Haneke, excoriated for Funny Games, took the Palme d’Or for The White Ribbon.

Big question: Will there be a Malacanang reception for the director of a ‘distasteful’ movie about police corruption, brutality, and torture?

Ha! I can hear the gnashing of teeth, tearing of hair and rending of garments as people line up to baiser Dante’s derriere. This is too much fun.

Emotional Weather Report
by Jessica Zafra
in the Philippine Star 22 May 2009

Or, How to write about Cannes without actually setting foot in Cannes.

Brown Bunny by the French actor/director Vincent Gallo was probably the most loathed and excoriated movie in the history of the Cannes Film Festival. Since it screened in 2003 it has become the, um, standard for awfulness at the world’s most famous filmfest. Every year, critics and moviegoers pore over the official selection and ask, ‘What will be this year’s Brown Bunny?’

Last year the movie with the strongest claim to the Brown Bunny prize was Serbis by the Filipino director Brillante Mendoza. Critics retched and threw up all over its technicals and its graphic gross-out scenes (overflowing toilets, purulent boils, etc). This year the American critic Roger Ebert has declared that a movie has surpassed Brown Bunny as the worst ever in Cannes—and it’s only Day 4 of the festival. The movie is Kinatay by the same Brillante Mendoza.

Ebert pronounced it unwatchable, which is about the most negative opinion one can have of a movie. A movie can be terrible but still watchable, either as a train wreck or as evidence that in matters of taste, one is a true independent. Ebert says that Kinatay (the English title should be ‘Butchered’) is so distasteful and alienating, audiences should stay away. (It should be noted that when Serbis opened in selected venues in the US, he sort of liked it.)

The review is online at Ebert’s Chicago Sun-Times blog. Even more interesting than the review itself is the comments section, where some Filipinos have been fighting amongst themselves. We Pinoys do have a knack for squabbling in the most public venues.

I have not had the pleasure of seeing Kinatay, but having seen and admired Serbis, I gather ‘pleasure’ has little to do with it. Disclosure: Mendoza shared a house with three close friends of mine back when they were all production designers, but we’ve never had a conversation. When we finally have our chat, I’d like to ask him whether this is his career strategy: to make alienating, unpleasant movies set amidst the poverty and squalor of Manila. If it is then it is canny, and it’s working.

Fact: Mendoza is one of the few Filipino filmmakers whose movies have international distribution. This facilitates funding for his movies.

Fact: The Filipino movies that attract the most attention internationally are movies about macho dancers, or slums, or both (Raya Martin’s movies seem to be the exception). These are often decried as ‘poverty porn’ or ‘poorism’ (like a form of tourism in which the ‘exotic’ sights include people living in garbage dumps). They are the descendants of the social realist movies of Lino Brocka which really introduced Filipino cinema to the festival circuit.

In the current climate, filmmakers who aspire to make movies of ideas have little hope of commercial success. Today’s indies—the filmmakers who do not work for Star, Regal, the major studios—are essentially making movies for the international festival circuit. The average Pinoy viewer is not likely to see these movies.

Hence the strange situation of the newer Filipino filmmakers: they make movies about the Philippines for foreign cinephiles (the people who attend festivals). They don’t earn money from their movies, but they get to go everywhere. As Lav Diaz once put it, they are poor but well-traveled.

Fact: Most film festival programmers are interested in movies about the poor. They are less likely to invite comedies about middle-class Filipinos mulling over the meaning of life than dramas about the proletariat struggling to survive.

So when your aunt in Tarzana, California or Slough, England complains, ‘Palagi na lang yan ang ipinapakita abroad! Puro mahirap, marumi, mabaho, wala man lang mall o Boracay. Baka akala nila lahat ng Pilipino ganyan (All the Filipino movies shown abroad show poverty, filth and squalor; foreigners will think we all live like that),’ explain the situation.

Film festivals like Cannes may be showcases for cinematic achievement and movie star glamor, but they are essentially markets. The participants are there not to hobnob with George Clooney and Brangelina (assuming they can get within 50 meters of them), but to work: to find distributors, make deals, seal funding, and whip up as much publicity as they can for their projects. If you are in Cannes alone, on a free ticket, with no budget or marketing support, you will probably not be swarmed by the foreign media. They are too busy chasing George and Brangelina. There are dozens of filmmakers yelling in everyone’s faces. Your only hope of being noticed is to make a movie everyone will take about. You can be remembered for winning the Palme d’Or, or for making the year’s Brown Bunny.

I’ve been to a few film festivals, as a media observer or in the entourage of filmmaker friends (which means I pay my own way, indie budgets being nonexistent). The most painful thing that can happen to a movie is for it to be ignored. Sure, you get a decent attendance at the screenings—a lot of them Pinoys living in the area—and they applaud enthusiastically and have their pictures taken with you. The reviewers shake your hand and say, ‘Good work’, but That’s It. You won’t make the headlines. Distributors, agents, producers, Harvey Weinstein won’t be banging on your doors.

Well Brillante Mendoza has found a way not to be ignored. This may not be the route ‘idealistic’ artists choose to take, but it’s worked for him. That he is also a talented filmmakers makes it less easy to denounce him as a cynical purveyor of gimmicks.

By the way, I’m not sure what movie won the Palme d’Or the year Brown Bunny came out, but I remember Brown Bunny.

2009-05-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

Independence

(Philippines - France - Germany - Netherlands) A Cinematografica ADDED: (Philippines)//, Atopic, ArteFrance Cinema ADDED: (France)//, Razor Film ADDED: (Germany) // and Volya Films ADDED: (Netherlands)// production. (International sales: Memento Films Intl., Paris.) Produced by Arleen Cuevas. Directed by Raya Martin. Screenplay, Ramon Sarmiento, Martin.

With: Tetchie Agbayani, Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi, Mika Aguilos.

By TODD MCCARTHY

A miniaturist critique of colonialism told in the approximated style of stiff, studio-bound '30s melodramas, "Independencia" is of interest strictly for its modest formal elements. Shot in black-and-white in the old 1:33 aspect ratio, with painted backdrops evoking the jungle setting, prolific young Filipino helmer Raya Martin's work here physically resembles that of Guy Maddin, sans the wit and impudence. Stylistically, this airless pic is miles apart from Martin's five-hour 2008 opus "Now Showing," as well as from his other (co-helmed) Cannes entry this year, "Manila." The director's growing profile and the pic's unusual nature assure a busy fest future.Like Josef von Sternberg's final film, "The Saga of Anatahan," "Independence" confines its few errant characters to a claustrophobic world of tropical artifice. Here, a mother, son and, eventually, a younger woman and a child elude the colonizing Americans in early 20th-century Philippines while living in a mountain shack until outside forces inevitably catch up with them, to predictably tragic ends. Self-consciously archaic style engages the eye but can't alleviate the labored nature of the drama. Sound mix marked by heavy weather and jungle wildlife is intense.

Camera (B&W), Jeanne Lapoirie; editor, Jay Halili; music, Lutgardo Labad; production designer, Digo Ricio. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard), May 19, 2009. Original title: Independencia. Running time: 77 MIN.

Cannes Film Festival Pictures

2009-05-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

Le Monde article: Des Philippins prêts à "mourir pour le cinéma"

2009-05-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Les terres d'élection cinématographiques reposent sur des sables mouvants. Englouties ici, elles renaissent ailleurs, dans un mouvement apparemment fantasque poussé par les vents mêlés de l'Histoire et de l'esprit. La technologie numérique, en mettant l'outil à la portée du plus grand nombre, a décuplé la force de ce mouvement. Qui profite aujourd'hui, notamment, à l'Asie du Sud-Est, de plus en plus présente dans les grands festivals internationaux depuis le début de la décennie. Inaugurée avec le sidérant cinéaste thaïlandais Apichatpong Weerasethakul, découvert par le Festival de Rotterdam et consacré par celui de Cannes, cette reconnaissance se propage à d'autres territoires, tels que Singapour, l'Indonésie, la Malaisie ou encore les Philippines.

Venus de ces dernières, deux réalisateurs, considérés comme les figures de proue du cinéma indépendant philippin, sont présents à Cannes cette année. Brillante Mendoza, 49ans, vient de dévoiler Kinatay, son nouveau film, en compétition (Le Monde du 19 mai) ; Raya Martin, 25ans, a présenté deux œuvres, Independencia dans la section officielle Un certain regard et Manila hors compétition, en séance spéciale, ce dernier coréalisé avec Adolfo Alix Jr. Kinatay décrit les nuits très particulières d'un jeune apprenti policier qui arrondit ses fins de mois en assistant un gang de criminels qui découpe les mauvais payeurs à la machette. Independencia relate, dans une stylisation baroque qui retravaille l'esthétique du cinéma muet, l'installation d'une famille dans la jungle lors de l'arrivée des troupes américaines prenant possession de l'archipel au début du XXe siècle.
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Sur le même sujet
Une image du film d'animation belge de Vincent Patar et Stéphane Aubier, "Panique au village", présenté hors compétition au 62e Festival de Cannes.
Instantané Des vedettes de plastique font l'animation à Cannes
Instantané Cannes, théâtre privilégié de la révolution numérique
Décryptage L'avant-garde roumaine résume trente ans de tragédie nationale en trois films drôles
Compte rendu Pour le cinéaste Lars von Trier, "ce film, c'est la main de Dieu"
Zoom Sur la Croisette aussi, on manifeste
Décryptage Coppola, Cavalier, Gondry, Hansen-Love : des cinéastes fouillent dans leurs souvenirs

On peut se contenter de ces deux titres pour caractériser l'esprit de ce jeune cinéma : un goût prononcé pour l'expérimentation formelle associé à un engagement social et une quête identitaire très puissants. La manière dont le jeune Raya Martin a présenté sur scène Independencia en donne une idée plus précise, lui qui appelait de ses vœux un temps futur où l'on pourrait être fier de "mourir pour les Philippines et de mourir pour le cinéma".

Entendue depuis la vieille Europe, où on ne veut plus mourir pour aucune cause mais rire de toutes, l'exaltation de ce propos peut effaroucher. L'histoire des Philippines permet, sinon de le comprendre, du moins de l'expliquer. Le pays a été trois fois colonisé, par les Espagnols au XVIe siècle, par les Etats-Unis au XXe et par le Japon durant la seconde guerre mondiale. L'archipel, enclave majoritairement chrétienne où l'on dénombre 180 langues, n'a conquis son indépendance qu'en 1946, avant de tomber durant vingt ans sous la coupe dictatoriale du président Marcos et de devenir, aujourd'hui, un pays où les disparités sociales sont parmi les plus marquées. Toute l'œuvre de Raya Martin se confronte à cette aliénation historique : "Nous perdons notre culture, sans nous apercevoir qu'elle est indispensable à notre survie. Le cliché du métissage culturel nous empêche de retrouver notre histoire et notre âme nationales."

"DES INSULTES CHEZ NOUS"

C'est ce à quoi s'emploie cette génération de cinéastes née dans les années 1990 (on pourrait encore citer Lav Diaz, John Torres ou Khavn de la Cruz), pour lesquels Lino Brocka, le plus grand cinéaste philippin des années 1970, constitue toujours, sinon un modèle esthétique, du moins un exemple de résistance artistique et morale à suivre. Car le plus grand obstacle que rencontrent ces réalisateurs sur leur route est l'indifférence des pouvoirs publics à l'égard de la création artistique et la domination absolue des productions commerciales, hollywoodiennes ou locales, sur le marché cinématographique.

Le divorce est si profond que Mendoza et Martin, dont les films sont majoritairement produits en France et découverts dans des circuits universitaires aux Philippines, refusent de solliciter un soutien financier de leur pays : "Nos films nous valent des insultes chez nous. Je ne vois pas pourquoi je demanderais une aide à des gens qui ne la donneraient pas de bon cœur et qui sont de toute façon incompétents. C'est une question de dignité", déclare ainsi le premier. "Nous luttons pour survivre dans un monopole de production commerciale. C'est une censure de fait et je ne veux rien avoir à faire avec cette bureaucratie", renchérit le second. La route sera longue.

http://www.lemonde.fr/festival-de-cannes/article/2009/05/21/des-philippins-prets-a-mourir-pour-le-cinema_1196055_766360.html

Good buzz for 2 more RP films in Cannes

2009-05-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

Inquirer Entertainment / Entertainment

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20090522-206428/Good_buzz_for_2_more_RP_films_in_Cannes
Good buzz for 2 more RP films in Cannes

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: May 22, 2009

MANILA, Philippines—After the “mixed” reviews for Brillante Mendoza’s “Kinatay,” two other Philippine movies in the Official Selection of the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival have received encouraging notices.
At the Debussy Theater on Monday, Raya Martin’s “Independencia” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section which “celebrates young talent, innovative and audacious works.”

Martin and Adolfo Alix Jr.’s “Manila,” in the Special Screenings section, premiered at the Buñuel Theater the following day.

Howard Feinstein of ScreenDaily.com noted that Martin, “only 24 (years old)... is heavily, and admirably, committed to... the appropriation of indigenous Filipino history after... colonization; and the laying bare of cinematic illusion.”

“Independencia” is about Filipinos who flee to the jungle during the American Occupation.

Feinstein noted that the film “borrowed its aesthetics from early studio talkies [with its] black-and-white footage, patently false backdrops, overacting performers...” However, he acknowledged that “this is hardly the stuff of the marketplace, but should find eager viewers in festivals and cinema studies classes.”

’Folkloric quality’

Tom Carson of GQ wrote in his blog: “The evocativeness is all in Martin’s decision to shoot it in the style of a pre-Griffith silent movie . . . If that didn’t make it clear we’re watching a fable of the Philippines’ past, the final image wouldn’t be nearly as wrenching — or as pointed.”

Carson liked it so much, he vowed, “I’ll be at Martin’s next [film] with bells on.”

British indie magazine Little White Lies critic Matt Bochenski pointed out the film’s “folkloric quality,” adding that it is “deliberately theatrical and old-fashioned.”

The mag’s site described “Independencia” as “a richly metaphorical, allusive collision of history, mythology and cultural memory.”

It said that it’s “full of long takes and stylized close-ups, but sizzling beneath with raw-knuckled sexuality... occasionally hard work, but hugely rewarding.”

Tribute movie

Alissa Simon of Variety posted a review of “Manila,” a twin-bill tribute to Lino Brocka’s “Jaguar” and Ishmael Bernal’s “Manila By Night” co-produced and top-billed by actor Piolo Pascual, who attended the Cannes film fest.

Simon called it an “experimental two-parter from leading indie helmers that makes one yearn to see the originals.”

She commented that the “evocatively shot” film has “youthful energy aplenty and a great jazz-pop soundtrack.”

She conceded, however, that the film “won’t find many prospects offshore apart from festivals and specialty situations.”

There’s good news even for Mendoza’s “Kinatay” which received a drubbing from Pulitzer-winning critic Roger Ebert.

Xan Brooks of the Guardian reported that the “latest odds have Marco Bellochio’s ‘Vincere’ as favorite to win the coveted Palme D’Or... closely followed by Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock,’ Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Kinatay’ and Michael Haneke’s ‘The White Ribbon.’”

‘Dark horse’

Victoria Lindrea of BBC News quoted Screen International’s Fionnuala Halligan, who also singled out “Kinatay,” the Philippines’ lone entry in the Main Competition, as a “dark horse.”

Halligan told Lindrea that “jury president Isabelle Huppert may be looking for something darker still,” adding that “Huppert’s taste would tend towards something like ‘Kinatay’ — a hard-hitting crime drama about the brutal murder of a Manila prostitute.”

Halligan described “Kinatay” as “the kind of confrontational cinema that Cannes likes.”

Awarding of the Palme D’Or, the Cannes fest’s highest prize, is on Sunday.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com

The Auteurs review: Independencia

2009-05-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

CANNES 2009: THE SAGA OF A GUERILLA IN THE PHILIPPINES ("INDEPENDENCIA," MARTIN)
by Daniel Kasman

Raya Martin's Independencia has found the cinematic equivalent of a double negative: artifice referencing artifice cancels itself out. His minute little saga, which begins with a mother and son in the late 1890s fleeing the American invasion of the Philippines by hiding out in the forest, and ends with the son having a son all his own, still hiding from the encroaching Yanks, is shot in homage to old Hollywood films. All the pictorial chiaroscuro of the Philippine forest is fake, flat matte shots, exquisite studio lighting, and precisely controlled rainstorms. The lush soundtrack was recorded elsewhere, the music even lusher, upstaging the false humility of the beautifully canned jungle sounds. The homage to—and, most probably, the critique of–the fakery of American cinema to tell a Philippine story is problematically muddled by this beauty. Independencia doesn't look like any old Hollywood film; it looks like Sternberg's The Saga of Anatahan. The surface beauty transcends the purpose, and considering something like a quarter of this film is ambient shots of wind blowing through the trees and grass, along with insert shots of the jungle in waiting, the political import of the film seems to dwindle in the face of, simply, Martin's visually and aurally lovely film. Nevertheless, life, as they say, finds a way. The hilarious mustache of a murderous American soldier carries with it more critique—and vitality—than the more dreamy aspects of the film, and the occasional presence of chicks tottering round the set and birds clearly released from cages do a fine job of stirring the more unflappable side of the film. Martin easily conjures an atmosphere of modest, supple dreaminess—not an ounce of pretension exists in the film despite its stylistic conceit—but in the face of the location work of someone like Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Independencia's chill vibe is welcome but seems easy. More importance is placed on the surreal naturalism of the film's beautifully painted matte backgrounds than any sort of human or story presence, and while Martin's natural sense of space gives everything on camera its due, I wish there were more on camera than the splendor of a studio production.

http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/738

GQ review: Independencia

2009-05-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

Notes from the Culture Bunker: by Tom Carson

Excerpts:

By coincidence, the Filipino movie Independencia also features two people running off to the forest to escape a trauma—in this case, the U.S. suppression of the natives after taking over the islands in the Spanish-American War. It’s also just as stylized as Antichrist, but what a difference a director whose eccentricities are choices rather than needs can make. The filmmaker in question, Raya Martin, is a new name to me, but if his earlier movies are anything like this one, Guy Maddin has a prize pupil to be proud of. The evocativeness of Independencia is all in Martin’s decision to shoot it in the style of a pre-Griffith silent movie, when nobody knew that film had any purpose except mimicking a theater’s proscenium arch. If that didn’t make it clear we’re watching a fable of the Phillipines’ past, the final image wouldn’t be nearly as wrenching—or as pointed. Beyond that, all I can say is that I’ll be at Martin’s next one with bells on.

http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2009/05/cannes-film-festival-monday-may-18he-may-have-a-palme-dor-for-dancer-in-the-dark-and-a-grand-prix-for-breaking-the-waves-be.html?mbid=typepad

littlewhitelies.co.uk review: independencia

2009-05-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

CANNES 2009: LESSONS LEARNED
Written by Matt Bochenski on May 19th, 2009

excerpt:

I caught three films on my first day (I sacrificed one for a free drinks reception. I’m either learning or letting myself down; not sure which.). My very first Cannes film was an authentic art turn from Filippino director Raya Martin. Independencia (trailer) is stunningly shot in black and white (I haven’t got my programme so I’m not sure what film stock was used, but it looked like a kind of weird super-8 almost). Though set in the jungle, it’s been filmed in a studio with artificial painted backdrops. This, combined with the film stock, gives Martin’s picture a kind of folkloric quality fitting to the title. It’s about a mother and son who flee the advance of American troops. They take to the jungle while the towns are occupied, rescuing a girl who, it’s suggested, gives birth after being raped. The family live out their days in harmony with the land, until the soldiers eventually find them. Deliberately theatrical and old-fashioned, Independencia is a richly metaphorical, allusive collision of history, mythology and cultural memory. Full of long takes and stylized close ups, but sizzling beneath with raw-knuckled sexuality, it’s occasionally hard work but is hugely rewarding. Before the screening, Martin took to the stage to dedicate the film to his nephews (or cousins, maybe), declaring that one day he hoped people would be able to die ‘for their country, and for cinema!’ This vaguely psychotic death wish got a few embarrassed chuckles, but good on Martin for believing in something so boldly.

Screen Daily review: Independencia

2009-05-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

Independencia
18 May, 2009 | By Howard Feinstein

Dir. Raya Martin. Philippines/France/Germany/Netherlands. 77mins.

Raya Martin is only 24, but he is heavily, and admirably, committed to two overlapping projects: the appropriation of indigenous Filipino history after Spanish and American colonisation; and the laying bare of cinematic illusion. Independencia is the second in a trilogy, following A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (2005), which dealt with the struggle for independence from Spain in the late 19th century and was made in the style of silent films. The American occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War is the backdrop of Independencia, and its aesthetics are borrowed from early studio talkies.

Martin uses black-and-white footage, patently false backdrops, overacting performers, and even a false newsreel, revealing the normally hidden projector light before and after. This is hardly the stuff of the marketplace, but should find eager viewers in festivals and cinema studies classes.

The occupiers are onscreen for only a few seconds. Martin focuses almost entirely on a small family, at first a mother (Agbayani) and son (Lucero) who, like many Filipinos under both the Spanish and the Americans, feel compelled to leave town for a less dangerous rural life.

They move into an abandoned hut adjacent to a lush tropical forest. The mother dies, and the family is now comprised of a more grown-up version of the son (same actor, now bearded and long-haired), the young woman called in the credits “the Stranger” (De Rossi) who had moved in with them after her ostensible rape by U.S. soldiers, and the very light-skinned boy (Aguilos) she gives birth to.

Generically, Independencia is as melodramatic as they come. Besides the family narrative and the acting style, the music, as lovely as it is, is continuous, insistent, and frequently mournful, with horns, guitar, flute, violin, and cello accompanying or anticipating every element of what little plot exists.

On account of Martin’s political and formal strategies, most screen time is taken up by the routines of rural life and drastic changes in the weather. We are saved from boredom by the one character telling stories to the others, most of them based on mythology and superstition, and some fine sound effects, most notably the ongoing, high-volume sounds of insects and the river. True to the genre, nothing ends well.

The Hollywood Reporter review: Independencia

2009-05-25T05:18:00.000-07:00

Film Reviews
Film Review: Independencia
By Deborah Young, May 23, 2009 01:19 ET
Bottom Line: Curious experimental Filipino film is for die-hard fest audiences.
More Cannes reviews

A man, a woman and a boy live in a tropical forest hiding from war in "Independencia," one of two films by director Raya Martin on view in Cannes this year. Imitating the black-and-white lighting and shallow depth of field of silent movies, this experimental work is for refined palates only, and even among the cognoscenti there's ample room for discussion. But the film has curiosity value and should pique the interest of festivals.

A young man (Sid Lucero) is brought to the forest by his strong-minded mother (Tetchie Agbayani), who is in favor of the Philippines' independence movement, so it must be the early 20th century. An unseen U.S. Army is occupying the country; we glimpse them in a naive mock-up of an American propaganda film, justifying the soldiers' cold-blooded killing of a village boy.

The boy and his mother set up house in a little hut. The boy finds a girl (Alessandra De Rossi) who may have been abused by U.S. soldiers and brings her home. By and by the mother dies, and the couple have a child. This little boy grows up in the Eden-like forest, where his father hunts for food while mother tends the home fires.

Three problems in paradise: Dad's eyesight is failing, the boy keeps getting lost in the forest and the Americans are closing in. The build-up is slow, but the pay-off does arrive with a long, dramatic typhoon sequence that manages to be forceful, despite the technical limits imposed by Jeanne Lapoirie's black-and-white cinematography, restricted camera movements and depth of field.

Though everything is obviously shot on a studio set with potted plants and a painted backdrop, the effect is to cast the characters into a magical world that can be both quaint and wondrous. Some silent film tropes are deliciously used, like the characters' dreams of sex and violence which are visualized as quaint "bubbles" over the heads of the sleeper.

Sparse dialogue gives actors a chance to work with their strong faces and curious props, like the father's thatch shawl which he wears as camouflage and raincoat in the forest. The score by Lutgardo Labad is varied and dramatic.

Venue: Cannes Film Festival, Certain Regard

Production companies: Arte France Cinema, Cinematografica, Atopic, Razor Films, Volya Films.

Cast: Sid Lucero, Tetchie Agbayani, Alessandra De Rossi, Mika Anguilos;
Director: Raya Martin
Screenwriters: Ramon Sarmiento, Raya Martin
Producer: Arleen Cuevas
Executive producers: Antoine Segovia, Christophe Gougeon
Director of photography: Jeanne Lapoirie
Production designer: Digo Ricio
Music: Lutgardo Labad
Editor: Jay Halili
Sales Agent: Memento Films International
77 minutes

RP Films make history in Cannes: 4 are in!

2009-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

RP films make history at Cannes: 4 are in

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: April 24, 2009

MANILA, Philippines—Four Filipino films have been included in the official lineup of the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival, a first for the country.

This “historic” development was confirmed by three filmmakers whose films were chosen as entries in the world’s premier movie festival that will take place on May 13-14 in the French coastal city.

Three independent films made it to the Official Selection, in three different categories: Brillante Mendoza’s “Kinatay (The Execution of P)” in the Main Competition; Raya Martin’s “Independencia” in the Un Certain Regard section; and Raya Martin and Adolfo Alix Jr.’s “Manila” in the Special Screenings category.

“Sabongero,” by Filipino-American Janice Y. Perez, was selected for the Short Film Corner.

There were unconfirmed reports that Filipino films would also compete in the fest’s parallel section, the Directors’ Fortnight, as in the past two years.

“It’s an exciting year for the Philippines,” said Mendoza, who added that the inclusion of the four entries bode well for local cinema.

Mendoza is staging a comeback in the Main Competition, after his entry “Serbis” stirred controversy last year.

“Kinatay,” his entry this year is “equally controversial” and delves into the world of hitmen who cut up the bodies of their victims, said Mendoza. The film features Coco Martin, John Regala, Julio Diaz, Jhong Hilario, Lauren Novero and Maria Isabel Lopez.

“I believe it’s the first time for an Asian filmmaker to submit entries in the Main Competition for two consecutive years. US filmmaker Joel Coen also had back-to-back entries in the competition in 2000 and 2001,” Mendoza told the Inquirer.

Does Mendoza consider his return to the competition a way to vindicate himself after last year’s intrigues and negative reviews?

“I feel no pressure. I try not to worry about those things and I only focus on making my film,” he said.

Masterfully directed

Mendoza recalled that when programming head Christian Jeune relayed the news that his entry had made it, the festival officer said: “I remember calling you the same time last year.”

In an e-mail, Jeune told Mendoza that he was “fascinated by the long night (depicted in the movie) … we were drawn into it. It’s masterfully directed.”

It is also Martin’s second year in a row at Cannes. Last year, Martin’s “Now Showing” was screened at the Directors’ Fortnight.

“Independencia” is the country’s first entry to Un Certain Regard, considered the fest’s “more experimental and adventurous” section, according to Martin. “I hope this proves that the world’s current interest in Filipino films is not just a fad,” Martin said. “We’re not just the flavor of the month. We can compete in the global arena.”

A historical drama set during the American Occupation, “Independencia,” which topbills Tetchie Agbayani, Sid Lucero, Mika Aguilos and Alessandra de Rossi, received grants from Germany, the Netherlands, France and the United States.

French co-producer Antoine Segovia of Atopic Films described it as an “international Filipino film. It tells a story that’s specific and universal at the same time. It’s about freedom.”

Martin told the Inquirer that his inclusion in the Cannes lineup came as a surprise. “We were nervous when we heard that major filmmakers like Pedro Almodovar, Ang Lee, Lars von Trier and Quentin Tarantino had entries,” he said.

The film’s Filipino producer, Arleen Cuevas, agreed: “From Asia alone, there were a lot of strong contenders: Korea’s Park Chan-wook, Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang and Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-Eda.”

Jeune told Martin that “the treatment of images [in the film] is one of the most sensual I’ve seen in years.”

Familiarity

“In the past, foreigners we met were not familiar with Filipino movies. But now when we attend film markets abroad, the Philippines is known as a participant in big festivals,” said Cuevas who also produced “Manila.”

“Manila,” which Martin co-directed with Alix, is a twin bill tribute to filmmakers and National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal, and is produced by lead actor Piolo Pascual.

When Alix learned of the film’s inclusion in the Special Screenings section yesterday, he called Pascual. The actor later said he was “happy and excited” that his first venture as a producer was selected as an entry in the Cannes fest.

In spite of his busy schedule, Pascual said he was considering attending the festival. “It’s important for me to be there because it’ll be the film’s world premiere,” he said.

“It’s a good time again for Filipino films,” Alix said. “For the past five years, doors have been opening abroad. My only hope is that Filipino audiences would start watching and appreciating local independent films as well.”

Filipino Films in Cannes

2009-04-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD
Only in Hollywood : Another Pinoy first

By Ruben V. Nepales
LA Correspondent
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: April 23, 2009

LOS ANGELES—Raya Martin’s “Independencia” was selected as an entry in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in May. The selection is one for the Philippine cinema history books since the movie, set in early 20th century Philippines and starring Sid Lucero, Tetchie Agbayani and Alessandra de Rossi, is the first Filipino film entered in Cannes’ sidebar for young talent and innovative, audacious works.

“It felt like graduation day,” Raya, 24, told us via e-mail about receiving the good news of his film’s inclusion from the organizers of the world’s most prestigious film festival. “We’ve been keeping our fingers crossed since we submitted the film; so many big directors were aiming for Cannes this year. I received the [news] from Christian Jeune (head of programming)... then called up Arleen (Cuevas, co-producer) immediately [and] texted my parents.”

Raya, whose “Now Showing” was selected in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight last year, added: “We’re very proud that our film is part of the Un Certain Regard. This section has featured some of the most critically acclaimed films in the festival’s history.”

Bold decision

Each year, several jury awards, including the Prix Un Certain Regard, is awarded to several entries in this competition section that draws varied original works from young directors. Among the filmmakers whose movies have been selected for Un Certain Regard in the past are Cristi Puiu (“The Death of Mr. Lazarescu”), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Tokyo Sonata”), Eran Kolirin (“The Band’s Visit”) and Sergei Dvortsevoy (“Tulpan”).

We’re particularly excited to see “Independencia” because Raya, in depicting his early 20th century family drama that tackles national identity and colonization, gives a nod to early Filipino cinema and studio photography. How? By shooting virtually all the scenes in a Marikina studio with a combination of actual prop materials and painted backdrops. That was a bold decision.

Raya worked with French cinematographer Jeanne Lapoirie and production designer Digo Ricio to execute his concept of recreating “moving pictures” that evoke his film’s period setting. Jeanne’s credits include Francois Ozon’s “8 Femmes,” whose cast includes Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert and Fanny Ardant: and “Time to Leave,” which stars Jeanne Moreau.

Three days

Raya, who graduated from the University of the Philippines Film Institute only four years ago, is the first Filipino to receive a P7 million film grant from the French government and to be granted a six-month filmmaking residency at Cannes’ Cinefondation in France, among other pioneering distinctions.

The idea for “Independencia” came to Raya during that residency, inspiring him to write the script in three days.

The former writer and researcher of radio and TV shows, newspapers and online magazines first made waves when his short film “Bakasyon” cinched the Ishmael Bernal Award for Young Cinema at the 2004 Cinemanila International Film Festival. His documentary on Batanes, “The Island at the End of the World,” captured the Best Documentary prize at the 2005 .mov International Digital Film Festival. Raya followed this up with his first feature, “Short Film About the Indio Nacional (Or the Prolonged Sorrow of the Filipinos),” which took the Best Film honors at the 2006 Pesaro Film Festival.

Raya just finished an equally beguiling project, “Manila,” which he described to us as his and Adolfo Alix Jr.’s twin bill “re-imagining of the Filipino classics,” Ishmael Bernal’s “Manila by Night” and Lino Brocka’s “Jaguar.”

Is he a young man in a hurry?

“There are things that I feel I need to do now, otherwise they won’t ever happen,” Raya answered. “I’m not an overachiever, as other people might think. Filmmaking is just something that’s comfortable to me, and indeed I’ve been very lucky the past few years. I’m just happy to be sharing these stories that inspire me to be Filipino, and to be myself.”

Raya and Arleen supplied us with this synopsis of “Independencia”: “In early 20th century Philippines, at the beginning of American rule, a mother (Tetchie Agbayani) and son (Sid Lucero) run off to the mountains with hopes of a quiet life. Deep in the woods, they manage to live in isolation despite growing unrest in the towns. On a hunt, the son (still Sid Lucero) stumbles upon a wounded woman (Alessandra de Rossi), brings her home, and takes care of her, despite the silent objection of his mother.

“Learning that the woman is pregnant, the mother starts to distance herself from them. Eventually, the son develops a relationship with the woman, the mother grows weak and ill, and eventually dies. Soon after, the woman gives birth to a son.” The boy is played by Mika Aguilos, son of actress Kalila Aguilos. He is making his acting debut in “Independencia.”

We told Raya that the haunting black and white stills showing Sid, Tetchie and Alessandra in pre-war costumes from “Independencia” made us bring out a sepia photo of our great grandparents taken in Pangasinan, which is one of our most valuable possessions to this day.

Raya commented that similar photos of his ancestors, taken in studios, inspired “Independencia.” He explained: “I was very interested in the mix of painted backdrops and seemingly live props. When you look at those old pictures, it feels like it’s going to move anytime. That was the idea: Moving pictures. We were showing those photos ever since we started pitching to producers around three years ago.”

Inspirations

He recounted how the idea for “Independencia” came to him during his filmmaking residency in France: “I was originally writing the film ‘Now Showing’ at the time. But the environment was very inspiring, and also it was an emotional time for me, being away from home that long for the first time, and Paris was not exactly warm for first-timers. So I was writing a couple of other treatments until the whole idea of ‘Independencia’ came to me – how the story went, but also how the structure flowed, and more importantly, the look of the film. I was also inspired by a Radiohead song.”

That song was “How to Disappear Completely.” Raya disclosed: “The original title of the film was ‘How to Disappear Completely’ and it was about wanting to disappear from the face of the earth. I’m preparing to shoot a parallel film of the same title.”

Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien has dedicated the song to Argentina’s desaparacidos or civilians arrested and vanished without a trace during that country’s military dictatorship. In writing “Independencia,” Raya was haunted by stories of disappearances during the American occupation in the Philippines.

“I remember writing the story for three straight days with little sleep,” he said. “I was glued to the computer desk day and night and only went out to eat...”

“It’s a personal observation, and most people would agree, that Filipinos are very flexible wherever you put them,” said the bespectacled Manila-born filmmaker on the underlying theme of his story of a family retreating to the mountains and relearning the ways of our ancestors as the invading American troops approach. “There’s something innate in us that’s almost primitive but essential that is the reason for our survival.”

Part of a trilogy

When we asked Raya if making “Indio Nacional” proved to be particularly helpful in making “Independencia,” he not only said yes; he revealed that these films, both shot in 35 mm and in black and white, “are part of a trilogy, or maybe a series, of films about the different periods of struggle in the Philippines. They also reflect the cinema during each film’s era. ‘Independencia’ is a progression of the first film, which is ‘Indio Nacional,’ a black and white silent film set during the Philippine Revolution against Spain. The images in the first feature are very simple, and naturally the next film would become more complex. ‘Independencia’ being a studio film would become an additional critical layer. Not only are the images different, but the themes are also more mysterious.”

Arleen bared a tentative list of who’s going to Cannes to represent the film. “We are still finalizing,” said Arleen, whose track record as a producer of award-winning indie films, including “The Amazing Truth about Queen Raquela,” is getting impressive. “But from the Philippines, it will be Raya, me, production designer Digo Ricio, assistant director Armi Cacanindin and hopefully the main cast, if their schedule permits – Sid, Tetchie and Alessandra.”

Of “Independencia’s” release dates in the Philippines and overseas, Arleen said, “We haven’t planned [that] yet but we will surely have a Philippine premiere in June or July. We already have a sales agent, Memento Films, the same sales agent of the winner of Cannes Festival last year, ‘The Class,’ and also a French distributor, Shellac.”

One happy man by the time this column comes out is Raya’s father, Perfecto Martin. When his son’s “The Island at the End…” won a prize in 2005, Perfecto texted everyone in his phone directory to share the good news. “My father couldn’t text anyone this time, since we had to wait until the official press conference of the Cannes Film Festival,” said Raya. The press con was yesterday, April 23. We imagined Perfecto’s excitement when he was finally able to share the happy news with the whole world.

“My parents saw what we went through to make this film happen.” Raya said of his folks, Perfecto and Nilia.

(To be continued Saturday)

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.

2009-04-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

WITH 2 CANNES ENTRIES
Only in Hollywood : Raya Martin makes RP cinema history

By Ruben V. Nepales
LA Correspondent
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: April 24, 2009

(Conclusion)

LOS ANGELES—As we reported Thursday, Raya Martin’s “Independencia” is the first Filipino film to be selected to the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Now, as we write this, we just heard the great news that Raya’s twin-bill film with Adolfo Alix Jr., “Manila,” is going to be shown in Cannes, as well. So, Raya scored another first for Philippine cinema by having two entries at the world’s premier film fest next month. And, with Dante Mendoza back in Cannes main competition with his “Kinatay (The Execution of P),” it’s a great period for Philippine cinema. (Dante’s “Serbis” was in the main competition last year.) As we write this, there’s buzz that two more films might be added to the Philippines’ official entries to the festival.

Ambitious project

“Manila,” which will be shown out of competition, is an ambitious project. It’s a tribute to Lino Brocka’s “Jaguar” and Ishmael Bernal’s “Manila By Night.” Raya, in an e-mail interview, described the film this way: “‘Manila’ is a reimagining of the two Filipino classics about the city and its inhabitants.

“Piolo Pascual plays both lead roles in the two episodes. I worked on the ‘Manila By Night’ episode, which stars Piolo as William Martinez’s character in the original film. It’s an update and a continuation of that movie. Personally, I think Bernal’s ‘Manila By Night’ is the best Filipino film ever. No other director can best portray the Filipino psyche onscreen.”

Adolf shared his reaction about “Manila’s” selection via e-mail: “We’re very happy with the news. It was unexpected because we got the invitation at the last minute. God is good. We’re very excited.”

Arleen Cuevas, who coproduced both “Manila” and “Independencia,” also via e-mail, exclaimed: “I’m happy to have two films in Cannes!”

Vilma Santos could have been one of the film’s key cast members who will walk on the red carpet when “Independencia” premieres at the Palais des Festivals. But, Tetchie Agbayani gets that opportunity, instead.

“We first approached Vilma to play the mother role in the film, and we had several meetings with her,” Arleen informed us. “She told us she really liked the script, but she was in a dilemma whether to accept it or not, since she had obligations in her work as governor of Batangas, and she already said yes to a Star Cinema project for this year. In the end, the schedules didn’t permit us to work together, but hopefully, we will have a chance to work with her in our future projects.”

Playing the mother in Raya’s early 20th century family drama that was shot in black and white, Tetchie looks striking in her “baro at saya” costume in the stills. What’s also remarkable about the film’s visual style, based on those stills, is that, all the sets were built indoors from scratch.

As disclosed by Raya, “Independencia,” which also stars Sid Lucero and Alessandra de Rossi, is the second in his planned series of movies depicting different periods of struggle in the Philippines, each using a style that was evocative of the film’s period. “Short Film About the Indio Nacional (Or the Prolonged Sorrow of the Filipinos)” is his first feature film and his initial salvo in this series.

The young filmmaker explained, “Since the first installment in the trilogy was a silent feature, because it was in the beginning of cinema (during the Spanish occupation), the following project about the American era was attributed to the Hollywood influence that eventually became the stronger roots of Philippine cinema. The studio film refers to the way those early movies were made, reconstructing the location indoors. We created a forest inside a studio, mixing painted backdrops and live elements. Almost all of it was shot indoors.”

“Nobody makes this kind of film anymore,” he added. “Aside from the fact that it’s more expensive than traveling to a real forest, which we have almost everywhere in the Philippines, our audiences are used to realism in the movies. What made it easier for everyone was our child-like fascination. We were like kids reconstructing a lost world. I had a great production designer (Digo Ricio) who knew exactly how to set up the plan. It was very systematic.”

True account

Arleen revealed the challenge of shooting almost the entire film in a studio, something that hasn’t been done in the Philippines in a long while. She recounted: “Actually, the hard part was finding a studio we could use for 15 straight days. Luckily, we found a studio at Scenema Concepts in Marikina.

“Afterward, the actual shooting was relatively easier than doing a location shoot. We were inside a controlled environment. Everything we needed was there.”

Raya, who cowrote the script with Ramon Sarmiento, satisfied our curiosity about this newsreel by saying that “the film is ’interrupted’ by a newsreel of a true account during the American occupation.”

The UP film school alumnus showed old-studio photos of his ancestors to his French cinematographer, Jeanne Lapoirie, as a guide to the movie’s look. “I also showed her different studio pictures from the turn of the century,” he explained. “She was already familiar with the look of ‘Indio Nacional,’ which was mostly based on colonial postcards. We also talked about silent films like Murnau’s ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Faust.’
“Jeanne would suggest her own ideas, and I was happy that she understood the project completely. I was very honored to have worked with her, since she has already worked with some of the most interesting filmmakers in the world, like Pedro Costa and Francois Ozon.”

Asked if he already has ideas for the next film in his series (which he said could go past three), Raya replied, “Yes, I’ve been working on some ideas in the past couple of months. But, it will probably take as long as ’Independencia’ to put together. So, it should be ready in a few years’ time. I’m not in a hurry.”

Prolific output

That last statement is ironic, considering Raya’s prolific output in just a span of a few years. A parallel story to Raya’s tale of recent triumphs is his coproducer’s own success in the international film circuit. In a seemingly short period of time, Arleen, who also produced “Manila,” has racked up impressive producing credits on films by Raya and Adolfo. Also a product of UP’s Film Institute, Arleen coproduced “The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela,” a movie directed by Icelandic filmmaker, Olaf Johannesson, which won the Teddy Award for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival last year.

Arleen was one of the young Filipino filmmakers selected to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus and Produire au Sud Workshop. She recently represented Filipino projects in the CineMart and Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum, which are coproduction markets for new projects looking for international coproduction and financing.

E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com, and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.

Cannes Film Festival

2009-04-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Independencia is selected at Cannes Film Festival, Official Selection, Un Certain Regard!

2009-03-18T07:21:00.001-07:00

we got good news. :)

postproduction

2009-02-26T06:37:00.000-08:00

the film is almost finished...
editing by jay halili
music by lutgardo labad

the film is very strong...
let's keep our fingers crossed!

2009-01-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

TAKE FIVE
Thoroughly independent Tetchie

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 16:22:00 12/31/2008

MANILA, Philippines—She sounds thoroughly like a teacher in Art Appreciation class.

Tetchie Agbayani, who won Best Supporting Actress for Richard Somes’ “Yanggaw” at the recent Cinema One Originals film fest, explains that the digital movie is not just a horror flick: “The aswang is a metaphor for any affliction that threatens the family.”

Tetchie — who made a splash as a Playboy centerfold in an earlier celebrity incarnation — now teaches Guidance and Counseling for Special Children at St. Joseph’s College in Quezon City.

Teaching is a whiff of normalcy in the otherwise abnormal work schedule of an actress, Tetchie notes, but the thrill of acting remains irresistible.

She has two movies in the works, one indie, the other mainstream — Chito Roño’s thriller “T2” for Star Cinema and Raya Martin’s period drama “Independencia” for Cinematografica (Philippines) and Atopic (France).

Coincidentally, “Indepedencia” scriptwriter Ramon Sarmiento was Tetchie’s teacher in college. “I still call him ‘sir.’ I found out he wrote the script only when I saw his name on my copy.”

The scriptwriter says the actress was a conscientious student who never ran out of questions.

But right now, it is the actress who answers questions for Philippine Daily Inquirer readers.

What’s it like working with independent directors?

It’s always refreshing to work with young people. With them, the whole process is creative. It’s not boxed up or dependent on formula. With indie filmmakers, you can explore and experiment.

What’s the challenge of doing “Independencia,” a period film shot entirely in a studio?

From the script, I read that the setting is a jungle. At first, I couldn’t understand the filmmaker’s goal. I thought shooting it in a studio was creative, but I wasn’t sure if we could pull it off.

But on the first day... the rushes were wonderful. We have a French cinematographer (Jeanne Lapoirie who worked in Francois Ozon’s “8 Women”) whose work is mind-blowing!

Now I can see the director’s vision. I believe that our job as actors is to help the director realize his vision. Now, in period costume, dark makeup and dishevelled hair, getting into character is a breeze.

How long does it take for you to get deglamorized?

An hour. It’s not so tedious. Working in a studio is great because all the sets are within reach. It’s not tiring moving from one set to another.

What’s it like working with Sid Lucero in “Independencia”?

We worked in (the ABS-CBN soap) “Ligaw na Bulaklak” before this movie and we hit it off right away.

Did you get to work with his dad, Mark Gil, in the past?

Yes, in Eddie Romero’s “Desire” in 1982. I was teasing Mark at the Cinema One awards: My kabarkada is your son; not you. Berks kami!

How do you see your character, the Mother?

I like her a lot. She’s strong and determined. When the Americans arrive, she takes her son, flees to the jungle and decides to stay there until the fighting is over.

Are you still teaching?

Yes. Every Wednesday. I have only one subject this semester: Guidance and Counseling for Special Children.

School is a totally different world.

Ay, oo, 180-degree turn! The hours are normal — unlike in the movies, where the hours are longer and unpredictable. The trick is to blend the two worlds, with their incompatibilities.

Your role was originally offered to Vilma Santos. Do you mind taking over another actress’ part?

Oh, not at all. When it was offered to me, I didn’t know they had considered somebody else. Well, I also didn’t ask. It’s really not my concern. They ought to know who to get.

I don’t have any qualms about stepping into somebody else’s role. No problem.

What’s your take on the international interest in Filipino movies, considering you made Hollywood films (“The Money Pit,” “The Emerald Forest,” etc.) in the past?

I hope it continues; it’s about time. That’s the effect of globalization. The world is shrinking. Everyone is interconnected now.

There are a lot of local indie films with gay themes; it would be nice if we could also send out movies that tell other stories. That’s why I’m happy that “Yanggaw” was invited to the Hong Kong Film Festival (in March).

Films like “Yanggaw” and “Independencia” are very Filipino in flavor. It highlights our culture. But what I love about “Independencia” is that it has a Pinoy look and a European sensibility. That’s very interesting.

Last day wrap party!

2008-12-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

Scenes from the last day/wrap party/christmas party for Independencia.
Viva La Independencia!

Day 14

2008-12-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

Reposting from critic Alexis Tioseco's blog (http://alexistioseco.wordpress.com/)

"Images from the set of Raya Martin’s Independencia, Monday December 15. Shooting day number 8 of a 15 day straight shooting schedule. While I preserved the color of the images I took, the film is being shot in black and white.

Independencia is the second part of a trilogy that began with Maicling Pelicula Nang Ysang Indio Nacional (O Ang Mahabang Kalungkutan ng Katagalugan) (A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (Or the Prolonged Sorrow of the Filipinos, 2005) and takes place during major periods of struggle in Philippine history. It continues the aesthetic design for the trilogy started by Indio Nacional, which is for each film to mimmick the cinematic style of the era and culture it depicts. For Indio Nacional which took place at the end of the Spanish occupation of the Philippines, that meant shooting in the vain of the silent-film, with a static camera, intertitles, and simple animation, for Independencia, set during the American occupation, it means shooting entirely in a studio, utilizing artificial backdrops, and applying heavy make-up on the actors. Seen in the images above is one of painted backdrops for the film. There are between fifteen and twenty of them in all.

Cinematographer for the film, being shot on black and white 35mm stock, is Jeanne Lapoire, who has worked with the likes of Francos Ozon, André Téchiné and Pedro Costa (for the Straub film), among others. Her full credits can be viewed here.

The actors in the images above are Sid Lucero and Alessandra De Rossi."

12th day of shoot

2008-12-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

Sid Lucero in character

11th day of shoot

2008-12-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

DOP jeanne with AC Jun and Gaffer Jun

Ben, our script continuity person doubles as a stand in

Actual scene of Tetchie on the monitor

10th day of shoot

2008-12-17T08:08:00.001-08:00

antoine and jeanne taking a cigarette break

antoine and our driver having a concert at the backlot

2008-12-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

arleen-producer, raya-director, armi-queen, rolly-prod manager

2008-12-16T16:43:00.001-08:00

raya, dad and mom, and antoine

direk raya, wardrobe designer reza, prod designer digo

2008-12-14T03:42:00.000-08:00

familia indpendencia

for our crowd sequence, raya decided to ask all of his past actors and actresses to be involved in the film, it was a nice reunion for everyone. :) day 7 of the shoot!

famiy picture

2008-12-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

Third day of shoot

2008-12-08T01:57:00.000-08:00

its our first day of shoot.

here's my director, raya, in-front of the monitor

with our cinematographer, jeanne, and script continuity boy, ben

test shoot

2008-12-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

Today we had our test shoot and rehearsals for the film. we brought camera/lights/grip from cinerent and most of the crew was there. this project feels very big right now,and grand and ambitious, but i am very happy i am working with friends.

Tetchie

Sid and Mika

raya and digo

The french are here!

2008-12-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

The first batch of our French team arrived today, Jeanne Lapoirie (best- known as the DOP of Francois Ozon films) and her gaffer Nicolas Dixmier.

We had a meeting with the staff and the gaffers to check the lights, and our first rehearsal/makeup test with our cast.
Here is Mika.

Here is Alex without makeup/costume yet

Here is Kalila

And our set

So exciting!

It fits!

2008-12-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hello guys, R here. A and I are at the infamous Burger King for free cellphone charging, while contemplating on whether to watch Twilight or have a good sushi meal...we are having a hard time deciding. Anyway, today we went to see a post production house and it seems they are very willing to help us with the project. Plus they have good vibes, so we'll see...hard time deciding. Last night I had a great time with some friends drinking, getting so drunk that I ended up at another bar, a posh one I don't usually go to. I guess I was really that drunk. I'm drinking as much as possible this week, because starting next week I can't...hard times.

A said I should talk about the project. Yesterday I saw the set for the first time. It got me very excited, but also very scared...finally, it's here, the project we've been dreaming for the past 3 years...too many drama stories in between, people, places...I can't wait to tell you when things get rolling.

I tried the costume yesterday, and yes, it fits like a glove...feels like a glove...I look like a glove...

Anyway, sushi...you know you love me...

xoxo,
r